


From The Ashes

by ArchonsVoice



Series: Genesis [1]
Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: AU, Clarke is a badass, Clarke is more Grounder than Skaikru, Cosmopolitan Grounders, Cross-Posted on FanFiction.Net, F/F, Other Civilizations On the Ground, Season/Series 01, Slow Burn, YMMV Nightmare Fuel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-23
Updated: 2020-01-05
Packaged: 2020-05-18 09:27:46
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 24
Words: 100,705
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19331782
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ArchonsVoice/pseuds/ArchonsVoice
Summary: For one hundred years humanity has endured on the poisoned Earth.  The last embers of human society are scattered across the wild surface of the Earth threatened by savage mutants, twisted survivors who defy the new order and horrors lurking in the forgotten places of the world.  It is time of endless strife, selfless heroism and blackest infamy.When the Dropship overshoots its landing Clarke is stranded alone but she soon comes to discover that the ground plays host to many different societies.  Now three years later she's become a successful scout for one of the grounder societies.  A chance encounter with the Heda of the Coalition sends them both on a journey that will force them to confront hard truths, question their loyalties and even to redefine being human.





	1. Fiery The Angels Fell

**Author's Note:**

> Part of this story has already been posted on FF.net so if you're champing at the bit to see what's happened next you can go there. I'll have this edition of the story up to the same point by the end of the week. The story did go on a prolonged haitus but I'm back to writing it and I'm actually enjoying it tremendously.  
> Disclaimers:  
> This is an AU so don't expect most of the 100 to make appearances until later. For the most part these are going to be cameos. So far Octavia, Lincoln, Bellamy(evil Bellamy!) and Raven have made appearances. There are also a number of original characters that will be making appearances along the way.  
> This is also not your garden variety world of the 100 that you see in the show. It's going be a cosmopolitan place with more clans and communities than what you see in the vanilla 100.  
> There will be rogue technology and AI on the prowl but not ALIE - yet. When and if she does appear you can expect her to be far less lame than she was in the show.  
> There will be no Praimfaya because NUCLEAR REACTORS DON'T WORK THAT WAY! You can tell I'm not still irritated about that bit of monumental stupidity there. Ruined the whole show for me.
> 
> As Always - Reviews for the review god!

“Earth, Clarke.  You get to go to Earth.”

It was the last thing she remembered before slipping into the black nothingness of a drugged sleep.  It was the jolt of the drop-ship’s separation that stirred her back to consciousness.  The acrid vapours of the hundred-year-old air scrubber system, the collected humanity of the other prisoners, and the trace fumes of the ship’s fuel system all conspired to make her headache into a full-blown migraine.  As the scene swam into view the fear began to claw its way up into her throat.  They were really on their way to Earth.  Making matters worse her fellow prisoners were all chattering merrily as though they were on a field trip and not on their way to execution.  A sharp pain from her wrist seized her attention as she noticed the metal bracelet that had found its way there as she had slept – no doubt a parting gift from the powers that be on the Ark.

“Welcome back.” It was her one-time friend, the chancellor’s son Wells.  She frowned at him in confusion.

“Wells, why the hell are you here?” She demanded.

“When I found out they were sending prisoners to the ground I got myself arrested.”

_That’s almost romantic,_ Clarke thought to herself.

“I came for you.”  Wells punctuated that comment with one of his silly smiles that he imagined to be winning.

_Scratch that, nauseating._

A bump shuddered through the ship as it began to skip across the upper atmosphere.  As Clarke opened her mouth to question what was going on she was interrupted by the soft voice of the Chancellor.

“Prisoners of the Ark hear me now.  You’ve been given a second chance.  And as your Chancellor it is my hope that you see this as not just a chance for you but as a chance for all of us, indeed for mankind itself.  We have no idea what is waiting for you down there.  If the odds of survival were better we would have sent others.  Frankly, we’re sending you because your crimes make you expendable.”

_Expendable indeed._ Clarke mused to herself. _Kill two birds with one stone; decrease the burden on life support while scouting out the ground for habitation_.

Jaha continued on despite the catcalls that greeted his assessment of the prisoners. “Those crimes will be forgiven and your records will be wiped clean.”

Clarke tuned out at that particular moment because it reminded her all too well of the elder Jaha’s way with words.  His ability to twist them to convince people to support the death of their peers had always sickened her.  The sacrifice of innocents was something that leaders seemed to do with an almost giddy abandon.  Speaking of the innocent, several of the prisoners had freed themselves from their restrains and were floating about the cabin, giddily ignorant of the impending return of gravity.

Clarke was about to open her mouth to yell at them when the ship bucked fiercely.  A sharp metallic shriek echoed throughout the cabin as gravity returned sending the floating prisoners slamming into the walls of the ship.

“The parachutes!”  Wells shouted over the groaning of the ship.  “They haven’t deployed.”

He was right.  The ship was falling too fast.  He was out of his seat before Clarke could move to stop him and down the ladder to the lower level a moment later.  It was a miracle he was even able to move with the erratic movement of the drop ship.  As Clarke moved to follow him she was slammed into her seat as the parachutes deployed.  The other prisoners were screaming in terror as the ship began to slow.  Smoke began to suffuse the cabin as the stress of the re-entry began to rupture the pipes and conduits that formed the vessel’s internal plumbing.  Another couple of moments later and the retro-rockets ignited with a deafening roar.  All Clarke could do was grit her teeth and hold on to her restraints as the dropship screamed through the sky.  She couldn’t stop herself from whimpering softly in fear, so sure was she that this was the end.

Everything stopped with a horrific crash.  The ship groaned a few more times as it settled and the hull began to pop as it cooled.  Clarke opened her eyes, blinked, and let out the breath she hadn’t realized she had been holding in.  They had landed and they were all mostly still alive.  Something was wrong though – the dropship still seemed to be moving which made almost no sense to Clarke.  Clarke slowly undid her restraints as some of the other inmates began to climb down onto the lower level.  As Clarke was taking stock of the situation she heard the first shouts.

“WATER!” The first shouts were surprised more than panicked but it didn’t take long for the panic to set in.

Clarke was in motion before she even had time to think.  If the ship was flooding then it was painfully obvious that they needed to use the escape hatch at the bow of the ship rather than the main doors.  Clarke waded through the panicking delinquents to the ladder and the hatch.  Already there were one of the surviving spacewalking prisoners and a dark haired man in a guardsman’s jacket. 

“Well, well, if it isn’t the princess from solitary.” The guardsman drawled as he worked the hatch open. “Women and children first?”

“Can it.” Clarke snapped nervously. “How are we going to get everyone out of here?”

“One at a time.” The guardsman snorted as he shoved the hatch open and climbed out.  The spacewalker was right behind him.  Behind her the crowd of other prisoners boiled towards her like an advancing army.  It was only sheer luck that the strong arms of the two others plucked her out through the hatch before she was trampled.

Standing on the top of the sinking dropship Clarke got her first look at Earth – or rather her first look at fog.  It was a miserable slate grey fug that surrounded the dropship.  She could barely even see the water surrounding them.  Looking around Clarke’s heart sank into her boots as she surveyed the situation around her.

“Are you going to just stand there and look miserable or are you going to help?” The guardsman shouted at her.

Clarke spun around. “What do you need me to do?”

“The compartment on the other side, it should have a life raft.  You get it opened and launched.  I’ll send some more people over to help you when we get them out.” The guardsman’s tone was commanding but he seemed to know what he was doing.

“What about Wells?” Clarke yelled over her shoulder.

“The Chancellor’s son?” The guardsman sneered. “Forget him.”

“He saved our lives!”

“I’ll look for him when we get the rest out.” The spacewalker interjected before the guardsman could say anything more.

Clarke nodded reluctantly as she set to work pulling open the panel that held the life raft.  Following the instructions on the thick plastic container she wound one end of the line around her wrist and rolled the container into the water.

While luck was on Clarke’s side as the plastic container burst open and inflated into a large octagonal raft it wasn’t when it came to the length of line that had been attached the raft.  In fact, the line didn’t even come close to stretching from the sinking dropship’s top to the water below.  The end result was that when the raft had made its journey to the water Clarke had been in hot pursuit.

As she came up spluttering for air some of the more dimwitted prisoners had gathered on the side of the dropship to laugh at her.  As she flailed in a miserable attempt to keep herself from drowning she grabbed hold of the line that was still wound around her wrist.  Pulling on the line she was able to haul herself towards the raft with a minimum of swimming.

_We’re going to make it._ Clarke was thinking to herself. _We’re actually going to make it!_

How wrong she was.  The designers of the dropship had originally intended the vessel to make a hard landing on the ground and therefore had not designed it to land on water.  Being that it was, however, a landing capsule and that shit does in fact happen coupled with the fact they were not stupid they had designed it to at least survive a water landing.  What they had not counted on was for it to be used over a hundred years after its best before date.  While the prisoners had been desperately trying to escape water had been pouring into the cabin of the vessel.  The designers had never intended for the inside of the cabin to come into contact with water and had therefore been quite sanguine about using potassium superoxide air scrubbers to replenish the atmosphere inside the dropship.  The by-product of mixing the two elements was an unfortunately large explosion.

Clarke was just turning around when the dropship exploded sending her, the raft and most of the survivors perched on the hull flying.  The pressure of the explosion seemed to pick her up and sent her skimming across the surface of the water.  As she crashed into the water she was completely disoriented.  It was like being plunged into an icy darkness that seemed to attack her every sense.  She flailed desperately in the murky depths as the water began to steal into her nose and mouth.  Against all odds she came rocketing back to the surface – still connected to the life raft.

Wearily she managed to pull herself back on to the raft.  Flaming pieces of debris continued to rain down from the sky as she looked around her but of the dropship itself there was no sign.  She was alone at sea on a world that was barren of life. 

Clarke tried calling out to the point that she shouted herself hoarse hoping to hear some sort of response but the only sound she could make out was the ringing in her ears.  Eventually she gave up and curled in on herself in a desperate attempt to hold on to the last embers of her own body heat.  She lay there shivering for what felt like an eternity, drifting, and alone.

***

Clarke was almost catatonic when they found her.  She thought that her mind was playing tricks on her when the raft shook from an impact.  Licking her salt cracked lips she looked up from her fetal ball.  The first one climbed rather awkwardly from his boat onto the life raft.  The man’s appearance practically screamed danger from the black beret perched on his head down the rest of his makeshift uniform to the rather intimidating looking rifle slung on his back.  Clarke stared at him dazedly as though he were some sort of apparition, a trick conjured up by her own feverish mind.

The soldier muttered something in a guttural tongue which caused his comrades back in the launch to break into laughter.  Without any concern he reached down to grab Clarke, ignoring her feeble attempts to bat his hands away.  With a practiced ease he slung her into the waiting arms of two of his fellows.  Climbing out of the raft he swiftly punctured the rubber hull with a wicked looking bayonet.  One of the soldiers wrapped Clarke in a blanket as the rest bent their backs to rowing the launch away.  Clarke simply huddled under the blanket.  It was all too much for her mind to comprehend.

Despite the efforts of the helmsman at the rear of the launch to get her to say something she remained mute until the launch reached its destination.  The black iron hull of the warship heaved itself out of the surrounding mist like some sort of improbable black wall sitting in the middle of the ocean.  The launch bumped up against the hull with a dull clang as the soldiers set themselves to work hooking onto the mooring lines of the warship.  A particularly burly specimen slung Clarke over his shoulder and proceeded to ascend the ladder to the ship.  She hung on for dear life as he climbed – not so insensate as to lose her instinct for self preservation.

As soon as they reached the deck he deposited her rather ungracefully in front of his crewmates.

“Pусалка” He laughed to his fellows.  They greeted his comment with a nervous titer of laughter.

Clarke stared at them blearily as she swayed backwards and forwards.  The faces of the men and women of the crew looked back at her with a nervous mien as though they half expected her to sprout fangs and make an attempt at devouring them.

The crowd shifted as another group of soldiers elbowed their way through the throng of sailors.  At the heart of this phalanx was without a doubt their commander.  The woman commanded the attention of her subordinates with an easy grace.  Everything from her striking navy blue uniform to the sword that she casually rested her arm to the angry crimson mass of braids that made up her hair seemed purposefully engineered to convey a single message – I’m in charge and don’t you dare forget it.

She studied Clarke with a sympathetic eye taking in the rather waterlogged Sky Girl before her.  Clarke reciprocated by examining the stunning specimen before her.  The woman was easily in her mid-thirties and sported a rather vicious looking dueling scare across one eye while the other was adorned with a stylized half sun tatoo.  Her eyes were a pair of restless green orbs that were always on the move as shifting as the sea that was her element.

It didn’t surprise Clarke at all that she tried English first when she spoke to her. “Where do you hail from little mermaid?”

Clarke blinked at her half in surprise and half in relief.  The commander seemed about to try another tack when Clarke responded in a dull voice, scarcely above a whisper. “The Ark.”

A series of hushed whispers ran through the crowd in the foreign tongue.  One of the sailors started yelling something from the back and soon it was taken up by her fellows.

“Fallen Angel.”

The commander held up her hand to still the chant. “What’s your name fallen angel?”

“Clarke.”

“Well Clarke, we have a saying about what the sea.” The commander purred. “She is a capricious mistress but when she grants you her favour do not doubt her.”

“What do you mean?” Clarke asked doubtfully.

The commander looked almost disappointed as she explained. “It means welcome aboard, Clarke.”


	2. Tack to Windward

3 Years Later, South of Mt. Weather

_Three years since the fall._ Clarke groaned inwardly. _Three years on Earth._

The anniversary of her fall to Earth and consequently her birthday was the one particular day of the year that Clarke loathed above all others.  Keeping time on Earth was a tricky business at best but out of some perverse sense of duty Clarke kept a count of every day she had been on Earth just so she could take the one day to remember the Ark.

It had been a long three years and if Clarke was honest with herself she had been awfully lucky – although most days the dead seemed like the lucky ones.  She had been adopted – quite literally – by the leader of one of the many disparate factions living in the ruins of the Eastern Seaboard.  The Ship Clan or Tseekru as their less advanced rivals referred to them were descendants of the sailors who had been lucky enough to be at sea during the apocalypse.  In a manner similar to the crews of the Ark they had banded together and scavenged enough resources to keep their little floating community together.  After many decades of pure subsistence, the fleet had homed in on a radio signal in the ruins of Norfolk.  No-one had ever dared to believe that they would find anything beyond a few wayward survivors but what they did find had bordered on the miraculous.  Norfolk had been in nearly pristine condition with not a soul to be found anywhere.  The area had been almost completely cut off by a suspiciously arbitrary chain of nuclear strikes that had created a desolate nuclear no-man’s land.  With a secure base and the remains of their pre-war technology intact the Ship Clan had set to work on arduous task of rebuilding civilization to their own standards.

Inevitably, as with any expanding civilization, they developed a need for raw materials and their efforts had met with frustration at the hands of the other survivors of the atomic fire.  Through a combination of diplomacy, intimidation, and outright war they had become a powerful and reclusive force on the post-apocalyptic landscape.  Despite this, the Ship Clan could neither seize control of the resources it needed nor could it simply withdraw behind its impenetrable walls of radiation so instead it became the middle man of post-apocalyptica.  Its vessels ran food and other raw materials up and down the coastline making them a necessary evil for the other tribes.

Clarke’s watery landing was seen by the largely spiritual ranks of the Ship Clan as being a good omen just as the discovery of Norfolk had been.  The Commodore as they called her, Mara, had been just as willing to embrace the sign and had become Clarke’s patron within the clan. 

It had been far from easy for Clarke though.  At first she had devoted herself to trying to find any sign of the other one hundred prisoners but despite the best efforts of Ship Clan there was no trace to be found.  After that Clarke had turned her attention to making contact with the Ark itself and again Mara had humoured her in this pursuit.  Once again, their efforts had met with failure.  In spite of all the advanced technology that the Ship Clan had preserved nothing could punch through the radiation laced atmospherics and the mysterious jamming field that surrounded Mt. Weather.

In the end Clarke could only watch helplessly as the dozen falling stars of her home had plunged to Earth six months later.  She had grieved and she had compartmentalized that grief so that she could survive.  In the end, she came to accept her survival on Earth as a gift and set herself on a path to see as much as she could of the Earth while at the same time trying to pay back her immense debt to her adoptive family.  That had led her into the ranks of the Outriders, a group of scouts that were part diplomat and part operative.  They almost always operated alone in their single-minded task of protecting the interests of the clan.  The training itself had been gruelling but it had been just the challenge that Clarke needed to take her mind off her loss.  After a year of training and six months of field work under one of the more experienced Outriders Clarke had been turned loose into the temperate forests of the seaboard lands.

Now she was on her way back home after an abortive negotiation with one of the Trikru villages south of Mount Weather.  As usual the rumours of the elusive and mysterious Tseekru had arrived long before Clarke did and she was greeted with the typical mixed of skepticism and distrust.  In the end, the clan leader had equated her with the group of bogeymen the local Trikru liked to use to scare themselves – the Mountain Men.  Given that no-one in the Ship Clan had ever seen a live Mountain Man they were dismissed as being a fairy-tale used to explain away the periodic chemical leaks that came from Mount Weather.  All the same all of the Outriders gave the Mountain a wide berth.

Clarke gave her horse, Vestri, a fond pat as the two plodded onwards towards Clarke’s safe house – an old pre-war bunker built into a cliff face.  While Vestri’s mind may have been on the oats and warm barn she was looking forward to Clarke’s was firmly on the bottle that would be her companion until she fell into a dreamless sleep later that night.  Every year this day would herald the return of all the shades of her past who would emerge from her memories to taunt her with what she could have done differently to save them.  The only relief would come in the form of the black nothingness of unconsciousness.  There was no doubt in her mind that she loathed her birthday.

Clarke’s grim musings were interrupted by the tell-tale clang of steel on steel.  Clarke sat up straight in her saddle as the sound came again.  Casting around for its source Clarke was only confronted with the dappled greens of the sunlight filtering through the forest canopy and the otherwise quiet forest floor.  Vestri had noticed the sound as well and snuffled nervously.  Clarke eased her forward in the direction of the sound.  The sounds grew in volume as they approached the head of a small U-shaped valley.  Further down the valley the source of the sound became apparent.  A group of Trikru soldiers were heavily engaged with a pack of Reapers.  The marauding barbarians weren’t known to raid this far south so it made the situation unusual in Clarke’s mind.

Steadying Vestri, Clarke pulled her spotting scope from one of the pockets of her coat.  The melee came into gory detail as Clarke focused the scope on it.  The Trikru were badly outnumbered as the berserk Reapers hacked them down.  Reapers were notoriously hard to kill and the other outriders had speculated that they had access to some sort of drug that suppressed their pain centres.  Regardless of the why the Trikru would soon be wiped out.

Clarke groaned to herself as she dismounted.  She had no particular love for the Trikru – they seemed to enjoy hunting her for sport whenever she entered their territory and it didn’t matter how many she killed they just didn’t seem to take a hint – her problem was that as soon as the Reapers finished with the Trikru party they would start casting around for other nearby prey and she had no desire to find herself on their dinner menu.

Clarke unslung her rifle from its position across her back.  The rifle along with the rest of her combat gear had been a gift from Mara and it had served her well.  Matte black and deadly accurate with its scope it was the perfect tool for equalizing a situation at long range.  Clarke flipped out the bipod and settled the rifle onto a nearby rocky plateau.  Going prone on the plateau she worked the bolt and settled herself for the task at hand.  It was always painful work to use the rifle since inevitably it meant that someone was going to die.  In this case it was something of a relief since the Reapers were so vicious that killing them was almost a community service.  Clarke picked out her first target, inhaled, and squeezed the trigger.

The report of the gunshot startled the dozen remaining combatants.  The Reapers were the first to recover and took the opportunity to brutally kill two of the surprised Trikru soldiers.  Two of the other ones turned towards Clarke’s position and began to advance towards her.  Clarke lined up the first and dropped him while he was still a fair distance away.  The second one advanced at a run straight for her.  He hit the ground in a boneless heap moments later as the report from Clarke’s rifle echoed through the woods.  Turning her attention back to the melee Clarke observed with some irritation that the remaining Reapers had managed to finish all but one of the Trikru.  The remaining warrior was an impressive young woman who held off the three remaining Reapers with a not inconsiderable degree of alacrity.

Clarke settled back to work as she dropped one of the remaining Reapers.  The shots were getting more difficult to make now that the other two were so closely engaged with the Trikru warrior.  Clarke snarled to herself as her next shot went wide.  Mentally berating herself for being too cautious when it came to the Trikru she snapped off another round – another miss.

_What am I doing?_ Clarke wondered to herself as lined up the Reaper in her sights and squeezed off another round.  He fell with a short scream.  _Why am I being sucked in by a pretty face?_

The last remaining Reaper managed to get the drop on the Trikru warrior and got in under her guard slashing viciously across her back with his sword.  Clarke’s heart jumped into her mouth as she saw the young woman fall.  Hastily lining up her last shot she let fly.  The final Reaper dropped.

Clarke considered her handiwork through the scope.  It had been a massacre, another one at her hand, but at least it had been a virtuous one.

_At least as virtuous as saving my own skin._ Clarke mentally chided herself. 

Clarke dusted herself off collapsed her rifle and slung it over her shoulder.  She looked down at the battlefield, considering whether or not she should even bother going down to look it over.

_You know she may still be alive down there._ Clarke’s traitorous inner voice reminded her.  It sounded suspiciously like her conscience.  _Are you going to let another person die on today of all days?_

Yes, she was adept at pushing her own buttons when it came to these types of situations.  Grumbling to herself she hurried over to Vestri and grabbed her field kit.  Retracing her steps Clarke wound her way down the cliff side into the Valley.   Picking her way over the corpses she came up short as she confronted the fallen warrior.  The slash was a nasty one and the blood trickled blackly from the wound.  Taking a moment to consider what she was looking at Clarke did a double take.  The young woman’s blood actually was black.  In her short time on the ground she had run into an impressive array of mutations but never once had she encountered someone with black blood.  She was almost afraid to touch it but at that moment the young woman moaned softly in pain.  It was clear to Clarke that with a cut that deep that the woman would die – not of the wound itself but from infection or from one of the numerous predators that inhabited the woods.

Clarke knelt down and pulled her field kit open, most of the medicines inside she had brewed herself and over her time on the ground she had become quite the herbalist.  It also didn’t hurt that she had had plenty of practice on her favourite patient of all – herself.  Pulling out a small pot of pure alcohol she doused her tools and bandages.  While grounders were generally ignorant of the dangers of infection Clarke wasn’t.  As Clarke was about to start cleaning the wound her patient came violently awake and started up from the ground.  Scrambling away from Clarke her green eyes scanned the ground for a weapon.

“Maunon!” She hissed angrily.

Clarke sighed and shook her head.  She simply remained where she was kneeling and waited for blood loss to take effect.  The young woman really wasn’t much threat to her, despite her apparent martial prowess, in her current condition.  As Clarke suspected the woman swayed dizzily a few times and collapsed.  Clarke sighed again, dusted herself off and relocated to where the woman had crashed into the ground.  Surprisingly enough she was still awake and tried to squirm away when Clarke tried to roll her over.

“Shhh.” Clarke soothed. “I’m just trying to close your wound.  It’s alright.”

The woman seemed to still under her touch, whether from a willingness to trust Clarke’s words or simply from exhaustion she couldn’t say.  Clarke slowly began to clean the wound of the black blood that oozed from it.  The woman hissed in pain as the alcohol soaked dressing came into contact with the wound site. 

“I’d offer you something for the pain but I get the sense you wouldn’t take me up on the offer.”  Clarke’s only response to her offer was angry snarl.  At least she knew that the woman could understand her.

Clarke hummed soothingly as she worked to infuse the wound site with a combination of herbs formulated to stop infections and decrease the inflammation.  Continuing on she worked to temporarily suture the wound closed.  At some point during the entire operation her patient finally gave in to the pain and passed out with a soft sigh.  As Clarke finished bandaging the wound she congratulated herself on a job well done. 

_That just leaves you with the girl to deal with_. Her inner voice chided. _You know if you leave her here she’ll be as good as dead._

Clarke winced as she realized that the only way to make sure the young woman survived was to take her home with her.  She was already counting off the ways that it could go horribly wrong as she heaved the sleeping woman up and set off back towards her horse.


	3. A Reversal of Fortune

Lexa groaned as she drifted back to consciousness.  She had been having a very pleasant dream involving a lullaby, a beautiful green forest, and rather pretty blonde who for some reason reminded her of Costia.  Bizarrely enough a group of Reapers had also been sleeping in the glade along with her and the blonde and the blonde had been busily sewing.  Lexa shot upright as she realized that it hadn’t been a dream.  There had been a battle, there had been Reapers, and there had been a blonde who had sewn up her wounds.

She immediately regretted her precipitous actions as the world canted and dipped to one side and her back came alive with pain.  Easing herself back onto her bed Lexa tried to will her world to stop spinning.  As things gradually came into focus she began to make out details of her current abode.  An oil lamp cast the whole room in a warm orange as she made out the pre-war furnishings all around her.  A medicine cabinet and the scent of antiseptics and herbs seemed to suggest that she was in an infirmary.   A warm blanket was draped over her of a woolen homespun with designs from the Sandkru. 

Lexa took a few deep breathes as she eased herself up into a sitting position – easier said than done with a nasty sutured gashed in her back.  Still it wasn’t the first time she had fought through an injury.  As the blanket fell off her she noticed that her captor had deprived her of her clothes and armour, leaving behind only a set of light cotton pyjamas.  Getting out of the bed slowly she padded over to the door and tried the handle – locked of course.

It was a widely held misconception amongst those with more technology than the Trikru that they were backwards savages, a misconception that the Trikru themselves did their best to perpetuate.  Lexa was perfectly versed in how to pick a lock if a bit out of practice.  Casting around the room she swiftly rifled through the cabinets and eventually came up with a fine scalpel and a pin.  The lock itself wasn’t particularly complicated and after a few abortive attempts it came unlocked.  Lexa held onto the pin and scalpel as she gently eased the door open.

The infirmary gave onto a narrow tunnel which had all the hallmarks of an Old World bomb shelter.  Lexa had raided several in her younger days, before she had begun her arduous training to become the Heda.  Turning left she paused for a moment and cocked her head to the side.  There was the unmistakable sound of music floating through the air.  The piece itself was mellow and sorrowful and the faint overtones of a singer drifted through the air.  Lexa had not heard artificial music in years and then only once when her teacher had shown her an antique Old World device that used a crank and a black disk to produce a few distorted notes of artificial music.  It had been nowhere near as complex or crisp as what she was now listening to. 

As Lexa padded down the passageway she gripped the scalpel tighter.  The music meant that she was the captive of one of only two groups the hated Maunon or the equally dangerous Skaikru.  True there had been rumors of the technological prowess of the Tseekru from the South and the fools’ tales of the City of Light but the Tseekru had never ventured this far from their ships or their protected bastions and the City of Light was just a myth told by the drifters that occasionally washed up inside Trikru territory.

The passageway gave onto an open space which seemed to serve as a living area.  To one side was a small cooking area with a wood stove burning peacefully, its fumes being evacuated up through a chimney in the ceiling.  On the other side of the room was a small living area which had been converted into what seemed to be a small altar.  At the centre stood a bonsai tree and above it hung a set of charcoal drawings of people that she had never seen before.  It looked to Lexa like some sort of altar set up to venerate the dead, and set up in a hurry judging from some of the haphazard arranging of objects around the bonsai tree.  Before the altar stood a single high backed arm chair and unfurled from the chair was single limp bare arm.  A soft sob was clearly audible over the mournful music.

Lexa shifted unconsciously as she realized that she had intruded into a deeply personal moment.  She pushed down her feelings quickly as she realized that no matter how human the person sitting in the chair was they were still her captor.  To compound matters the music offered Lexa the perfect opportunity to strike undetected and quickly gain the upper hand also negating the disadvantages her injuries would inflict in a prolonged fight.  So, the cold calculus of her options made her decision for her.  Lexa glided, wraithlike, towards the oblivious figure swallowed up in the chair hoping to incapacitate if possible and kill if necessary. 

The music suddenly came to an end and Lexa came to an abrupt halt.  Another, distinctly feminine, sniffle came from the chair in front of her as her captor showed no signs of moving.  Softly advancing on the chair Lexa did her best to remain silent.  Whether out of some sixth sense that she was being watched or from sheer luck the woman in the arm chair poked her head around the side of the chair to look behind her.  Lexa was rooted to the spot as the other woman’s puffy, tear streaked, blue eyes widened as she saw what had been lurking behind her.  The colour drained from the other woman’s face as she stared at Lexa and then at the scalpel in Lexa’s hand.  Her terrified blue eyes darted towards a table to the side of the room, Lexa followed her gaze as it landed on a blunt and very menacing looking revolver that sat innocently on a side table.  The blue eyes darted back to Lexa and Lexa could see the other woman tensing to make a run for the weapon.

Years of experience had allowed Lexa to predict where and how the other woman was going to move and she was launching herself towards her just as she leapt from her chair and made a vain dash for her sidearm.  Lexa’s impact sent both of them tumbling in a tangle of limbs but Lexa’s superior reflexes allowed her to quickly gain the upper hand and in moments she had the other woman face-down in a chokehold.  The woman’s desperate clawing at Lexa’s arm soon ceased as Lexa efficiently blocked off the woman’s carotid arteries.  Releasing her carefully Lexa took the opportunity to pick up the pistol and withdraw to a safe distance.

The other woman wheezed and coughed as she regained consciousness and she slowly levered herself into a sitting position.  She stared at Lexa with an anger born of the realization that she was completely helpless.

“I’m betting you don’t even know how to use that.” The woman rasped as she gestured to the revolver.

Lexa smirked as she cocked the hammer and aimed the weapon away from her prisoner before firing.  The report was deafening and the other woman jumped as the bullet thudded into the floor near her.  All trace of cockiness had just been erased and while she still looked angry there was a good deal of fear accompanying that emotion.

“Now,” Lexa began. “You are going to find some rope and tie yourself to one of those chairs.”

The other woman shot Lexa a withering glare as she got up very slowly and backed away from Lexa.  “I don’t keep rope on hand in my living room.”

Lexa was having none of it. “Use your clothes.”

The other woman stared at Lexa and then sighed.  She shrugged off the light linen housecoat she had been wearing and, with a regretful sigh, began tearing it into strips.  Dropping the now ruined housecoat she plunked into her chair with a weary grunt and wound the material around her ankles.  Making the binding fast she proceed to one hand and then, with a surprising amount of dexterity, bound her free hand around the arm of her chair and made it fast with a sharp jerk from her teeth.  Staring back up at Lexa she glared at her warily.  Lexa for her part let out a sigh of relief as she pushed a chair around to face her prisoner and settled into it.  Her wound had begun to ache but it was a testament to the other woman’s skills as a medic that it had not sprung open.

“I am going to ask you some questions.” Lexa began. “You are going to answer me honestly.  If you don’t the consequences could be severe.”

The other woman stared at her coldly as though trying to preserve what was left of her dignity.

“What is your name and clan?”

“Clarke, of the Tseekru.” The other woman responded curtly.  Her eyes drifted over to the bonsai tree for a moment before returning to stare at Lexa.

In that instant Lexa knew that she was already lying about something.  The decades of past life experience of the commanders before her had left her an adept judge of people’s tells and she could tell that Clarke was lying about something.

“I don’t believe you.” Lexa snapped.

“I don’t care what you believe, it’s the truth.” Clarke shot back.

“I warned you that there would be consequences if you attempted to lie to me!” Lexa retorted angrily.

“What are you going to do?  Kill me?” Clarke laughed.

Lexa rose from her chair in an instant and hastened out of the room leaving a stunned looking Clarke behind her.  Retracing her steps to the infirmary Lexa quickly rifled through the jars of powders and ointments until she found what she was looking for.  The jar itself was neatly labeled with _Black Henbane_ which unlike its pre-fallout parent had mutated several interesting properties.  Returning to the living area Lexa found Clarke staring at her in confusion.

“I take it you know what this is?” Lexa asked harshly as she showed Clarke the jar.

Clarke eyed Lexa suspiciously as she nodded.  It was clear from her look that she knew the mutated Black Henbane enjoyed use as both a deadly toxin with symptoms approximating madness to a highly potent truth agent.  It induced a kind of waking sleep that made the recipient highly suggestable but could also easily lead to hallucination, paranoia and madness if the recipient’s psyche was not sufficiently robust.  The danger of the compound was getting the dose just right so as to avoid sending the recipient into irreversible madness.  Given that Lexa knew little enough about herbs and medicine she had already calculated that she ran a better than average chance of getting the dose catastrophically wrong.

Turning her back to Clarke she strode over to the kitchen area and began to root around for a spoon, drinking vessel and water.  Working slowly and patiently Lexa waited for Clarke to make the next move – cunningly playing on the other woman’s fears.

“Do you even know what you’re doing with that?” Clarke asked, a faint note of worry creeping into her voice.

“Not exactly, but in the past it has been used to satisfactory effect to extract information.” Lexa replied casually as she stirred the powder into the water. “It was a pity that the subjects all died or went mad but the information they provided was worth it.”

Lexa set down the spoon and returned with an earthenware mug full of the potent mixture.  Clarke continued to regard her skeptically as though trying to gauge whether or not she would carry through on her threat.

“You only need to tell me the truth Clarke and I won’t have to use this.” Lexa stated simply. “To what clan do you belong?”

“I told you this already,” Clarke replied in exasperation. “The Tseekru.  I’m one of their scouts.”

Clarke wasn’t the only one who was irritated and Lexa let her anger show as she kicked Clarke’s chair backwards.  Clarke had only moments to brace herself as the chair toppled backwards taking her with it.  In a moment Lexa was on her reaching for her nose to clamp it shut prior to forcing the black mixture down Clarke’s throat.  Clarke twisted out of Lexa’s grasp desperately, her fear written clearly across her features.

“Stop!” Clarke pleaded as she desperately shied away from the potent mixture. “Please, tell me what you want to know.  I’ll answer.”

Lexa paused momentarily to study the squirming woman below her.  Her reactions were far from in keeping with the relatively defiant woman she had fought earlier that evening or the hardened scout that had saved her life.  Something wasn’t adding up.

“Why are you so terrified of this?” Lexa asked softly. “The threat of death didn’t seem to worry you.”

Clarke refused to meet her gaze as she answered softly. “I’ve had it before.  I don’t want to go back there.”

Things began to click into place for Lexa as she realized that this woman harboured demons that she had no desire to confront.  The altar that she had set up, the portraits, the unopened bottle of moonshine on her kitchen counter – it all amounted to someone on the run from the shades of their past, someone trying their best to forget about the people they hadn’t saved.  It was a feeling that Lexa was all too familiar with and in that moment she felt a pang of sympathy for her captive.  Setting the mug of Henbane aside Lexa hauled Clarke’s chair and its occupant back upright. 

“Alright Clarke, you can start by telling me about the altar and the pictures.” 

Clarke was hesitant as she began, still refusing to look at Lexa after what had just happened. “They’re pictures of my parents and my friends.  I drew them to remember them.”

“They are dead now?”

“Yes.”

“What happened to them?”

Clarke licked her lips as she seemed to consider her next words and for a moment Lexa was almost worried that she would need to threaten her again with the Henbane but Clarke gathered herself and continued. “I know you’re not going to believe me when I say this but they all died falling from the sky.”

Contrary to Clarke’s comment Lexa could believe it easily, she knew well of the life that lingered in the night sky above them.  “Go on.”

“I was sent down here three years ago with one hundred others – prisoners from our home.” Clarke explained slowly. “We landed in the water near the lands of the Floudonkru.  I managed to escape our ship but before the others could it exploded.”

Clarke seemed to choke up at this point but she steeled herself as she continued. “My best friend, Wells, died that day.  He died thinking that I hated him for the death of my father.”

“How did your father die?”

“He was executed for reasons that are now trivial.” Clarke snorted derisively. “He tried to save all of them and they paid him back for it by killing him but in the dend, they all died anyway.”

“What happened to your people?” Lexa probed.

“They ran out of air or they burned up on re-entry” Clarke snapped, her anger bleeding into her voice as she seemed to fight to keep herself from crying. “Either way they’re dead and I’m the last one left.”

Clarke trailed off as she stared at the ground before her. “That’s why I’m not afraid of dying but I am afraid of going back to that waking nightmare.” Clarke finished softly.

Lexa sat back in her chair, while Clarke’s story was tragic it was also wrong.  The poor naïve Skai girl thought that she was the last of her kind while Lexa desperately wished for that to be true.  The Skaikru were mostly very much alive and very much a thorn in Lexa’s side.  The Maunon she could deal with but the fall of the Skaikru to earth and the ensuing military debacles in trying to wipe them out had been costly.  Now with questions surrounding the value of the coalition that she had worked so hard to forge and doubts swirling around the strength of her leadership she was left with the unpalatable option of unending cold war with a force of Mountain Men who could walk the surface with impunity.  Her only way out of her current predicament was to negotiate a settlement with the Skaikru and to focus their attention to the Maunon in hopes that they would mutually annihilate or be so weakened that they would never again threaten her people.  Against all odds she had been given the perfect asset – a grief stricken Skai girl who, if the rumours of the diplomatic skill of the Tseekru scouts were to be believed, could help her build a bridge between her people and the Skaikru.


	4. Weighing the Situation

Clarke groaned as she stumbled over another loose outcropping of ground.  It was certainly demeaning to be beaten so soundly in one’s own home but it was doubly demeaning to be dragged along behind one’s own horse.  This was, unfortunately for Clarke, exactly the position she was in.  She actually didn’t mind the fact that her patient had soundly defeated her, had the roles been reversed Clarke would have done the same thing, but what she objected to was the fact that she had been taken like some sort of trophy and was now being dragged back with the woman to be paraded in front of her barbarian friends. 

The thing Clarke was trying her best not think about was that gross invasion of her privacy that the other woman’s interrogation had amounted to.  Going over her past had left her feeling emotionally ravaged and had opened up wounds she had been living with for years.  Throughout it all her patient had been oddly considerate, giving her the time to proceed at her own pace and not forcing her to proceed when she hadn’t wanted to, it had almost been like a form of therapy for her.  True her interrogator had been relentless in her pursuit of the truth – in a slow and methodical kind of way – but at the same time she had seemed oddly sympathetic.  The entire experience had left Clarke feeling confused and nauseous.

At the end of the day Clarke reasoned that it was all a cunning interrogation tactic designed to take advantage of Clarke’s compassion and try to get her to feel for her captor.  She heard of these types of cases before but experiencing it first hand was something else entirely.  The whole experience coupled with the acute symptoms of sleep deprivation had left Clarke dead on her feet.

She narrowly missed falling face first over another loose root as her captor gave her line connect her bound wrists to her saddle a gentle tug.  Clarke gazed up at the other woman and found herself being considered again by those intelligent green eyes.  The interrogation hadn’t been wholly one-sided, during the entire experience Clarke had learned a great deal about the other woman from her mannerisms and subconscious ticks.  Everything about her captor’s demeanour and the way she carried herself seemed to scream apex predator but getting closer to her had allowed Clarke to observe a softer side.  While most would have drugged her without compunction the other woman had paused and relented indicating that she seemed to have a human side or that she was cunning enough to realize that there were other ways to achieve her ends beyond brute force – perhaps both.  There was also something alien about the other woman – the way she seemed to constantly study Clarke as though analyzing every inhalation of breath and infinitesimal facial twitch for hidden meaning. 

Following the conclusion of their impromptu interrogation session her captor had raided her home for provisions and clothes, given Clarke one of her old overcoats and a pair of boots and pointed her towards the ladder leading out of the bomb shelter.  At least she had been kind enough to extinguish the lamps and the power so that Clarke’s home wouldn’t burn down while she was gone.  Taking Vestri, Clarke’s horse, Clarke had been ignominiously forced to follow on foot.  Shivering through the early-morning chill she had cursed the other woman silently.  By mid-morning anger had given way to fatigue.  Now in the early afternoon she was on her last legs.  She had not said a word to her captor the whole time – too foolishly proud she guessed.

The uneven path produced yet another hidden rock and this time Clarke went face first into the hard earth of the trail in front of her.  Try as she might she could not lever herself up off the ground and eventually she gave up and collapsed on to the hard earth.  Moments later her captor was gently helping her off the ground and settling her down against a tree.

“Drink.” The other woman commanded as she shoved Clarke’s stolen canteen into her hands.

Clarke drank carefully knowing that given her current state drinking too quickly could have unpleasant side effects.  The other woman nodded briskly in approval.

“Why?” Clarke asked softly. “Why are you giving me water?”

“I don’t believe in mistreating my prisoners.” The other woman responded simply.

“That explains why you dragged me halfway to Polis without a break or water.” Clarke responded ruefully.

“If you had needed to rest you only needed to ask.” Her captor rejoined smartly.

Clarke was left momentarily speechless.  She had suffered because of her own preconceptions about her captor.  She quickly seized the opportunity presented by her captor’s openness to bombard her with more questions.

“What’s your name?”

“Lexa.”

“Wait, wait, Lexa as in Heda Lexa of the Trikru.”

“Yes.” The other woman couldn’t quite supress a smile at how Clarke’s face fell at the revelation. “Do not feel too badly.  It is a great honour to be bested by the Commander of the Twelve Clans.”

“Not from where I’m sitting.” Clarke sighed. “Well it makes a lot more sense now.”

“Oh?”

“Yes,” Clarke gestured to her bound hands. “You were captured by a member of another clan.  The only way you can avoid losing face is if you bring the person who captured you back to face justice before your court.”

“You are remarkably perceptive, for a simple scout.” Lexa replied critically. “Unfortunately your theory fails to take into consideration other explanations for my behaviour.”

“Oh?” Clarke responded coolly.

“Perhaps I was simply lonely and desired a fresh face to warm my bed?” Lexa said in a complete deadpan.

“You wouldn’t.”

“If I recall correctly you’re my prisoner and you did assault my person.”

“I saved your life.”

“You imprisoned me against my will.”

“I kept you safe.”

“Regardless you committed two grievous crimes under the laws of my people which makes your life mine to do with as I see fit.” Lexa concluded perfectly seriously.

“I’d sooner die.”

“That can be easily arranged.  Although I must confess to being somewhat surprised that would be your choice.”

“You won’t even get a chance to carry through on that threat and we both know it.”

“Oh?”

“The Tseekru have an embassy in Polis and their ambassador sits among your council despite not being a member of your coalition.  After all we carry much of your seaborne trade.  Without us you would starve in winter.”

“You exaggerate but do continue.”

“Regardless, I will be seen when you sentence me.  A private audience will be demanded by the Tseekru.  Terms will be struck and I will be set free.  You will profit from a new favourable trade arrangement and I will end up with the worst assignments for years to come not to mention being a laughing stock amongst my fellow Outriders.  That is as far as it will go though.”

Lexa laughed. “I’m impressed Skai girl.  Are you a prophetess?”

“No.”

“We have spent enough time talking for now and we still have far to go.” Lexa concluded briskly, her face carefully recomposed into her emotionless mask.

Clarke sighed as she handed her back the canteen and hauled herself back to her feet while Lexa gracefully remounted Vestri.  Clarke almost didn’t notice when she held her hand out for Clarke to take.  She looked up questioning at Lexa.

“Unless you want to continue walking?” Lexa queried drily.

Clarke took Lexa’s hand levered herself up until she was sitting just in front of the other woman.  Vestri tossed her mane irritably but the addition of a second rider didn’t really bother the massive warhorse.

“If you make the slightest wrong move Clarke you will be back to walking.” Lexa warned as she wrapped her arms around Clarke to grasp the reins.

Clarke nodded wearily and settled herself for the long ride to Polis.  Before long she was fast asleep.

***

Clarke was jostled awake as Vestri came to a halt.  It was already early evening but the twilight allowed her to make out the gates of Polis before.  Looming out of the gloom was the massive tower of the Commander that stood like Polis’ silent guardian.  Atop the tower burned the sacred fire – a beacon and some said the embodiment of all the Commanders that had died before Lexa.  Clarke had never been to Polis but she had been briefed on the city as part of the training that all the Outriders received.

“Clarke, you will need to dismount.” Lexa said. “You understand that this is for appearances’ sake.”

Clarke slide off of Vestri and looked up at Lexa for a moment. “Lexa, why are you going so far out of your way to look out for me?”

“Blood not spilt demands repayment in kind” Lexa replied cryptically. “When you enter Polis, do not make eye contact with any of the warriors and address me only by my title.  If you show the slightest bit of disrespect it will go very badly for you.”

As Clarke was nodding her reluctant assent a voice from the wall called out to them. “Chon yu bilaik?  Haukom yu kamp raun hir?”

“Ai laik Heda Leksa.” Lexa shouted back to the gate guard.

“Heda?” The guard seemed to gasp.  Clarke could just barely make out his nervous face peeking over the wall but she could definitely tell that he was nervous. “Uf au!”

As Clarke was smirking to herself at how the grounder had gone from commanding to so completely cowed Lexa gave the rope connecting them together a sharp jerk as if to remind Clarke that she wasn’t any better off.  The gate itself creaked open revealing a small crowd of warriors some of whom were carrying burning torches.  The whispers were rampant as Lexa rode into Polis managing to look surprisingly regal atop a stolen horse wearing Clarke’s stolen clothes.  Clarke fixed her gaze to the path ahead of her trying her best to look suitably cowed. 

_I’ll play your game for now Lexa if only to see where this mind of yours is leading me._

The warriors shifted uneasily around the two of them as though sensing that Clarke was somehow responsible for Lexa’s disappearance and her lack of an escort.  Clarke knew it was a dangerous situation and was already tensing up at the threat of impending violence.  Fortunately the Trikru were more disciplined then their unruly appearances would at first suggest and most of them seemed more relieved that their Heda had returned to them.  The entire journey through the city passed without incident until they reached the gates of the Commanders’ tower.  A man in grey robes stood there waiting expectantly for Lexa along with an entourage of what Clarke suspected to be her councillors.

“Heda, we are all pleased to see you returned to us safely.” The robed man exclaimed.  Clarke got the impression very quickly from him that he wasn’t one for small talk. “There have been many rumours surrounding your disappearance.  What happened to your guards?”

“Killed to a man, Fleimkeepa.” Lexa replied. “Ripas.”

“And your prisoner?”

“She is of the Tseekru – one of their scouts.  She fought the Ripas.”

“In the cowardly ways of the Tseekru no doubt.”

_How dare you call me cowardly when you look like you’ve never faced combat in your life._ Clarke seethed inwardly.

“Of course.  Still she did help me defeat the Ripas.”

“Then how does she come to be your prisoner?”

“She tried to take me as her prisoner.” Lexa replied coolly. “I was forced to show her the errors of that decision.”

“Quite true Heda.  Jus drein jus draun.” Titus opined proudly.

_Of course it would all boil down to an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth._

“Take her to my chambers and convene my council.  I intend to pass judgment on this Tseekru scout.” Lexa commanded.

Two of the guards were swift to seize Clarke and frog marched her into the tower.  During the rapid trip through the tower the only points of note Clarke remarked on were the scores of grim faced guards that populated the edifice.  Getting out was going to prove very challenging.  After a quick trip up a rudimentary elevator the guards escorted her into a set of opulent rooms which Clarke guessed to be the Commander’s quarters. 

While she was considering the room around her one of the guards took the opportunity to kick her legs out from under her.  Clarke collapsed graceless to the ground and before she had a chance to move one of the guards seized her by the hair and dragged into a kneeling position.  As soon he released her and before she could restrain herself she turned face him defiantly.  A swift backhanded blow was her reward.  As she crashed back down to the floor again sporting a broken lip she realized that she had had enough of playing along with Lexa’s ruse.  One of the guards was busily laughing as the other one loomed over her.  Rolling onto her back Clarke sized up her opponent quickly.  Aiming a precise kick at the guard’s knee she sent him toppling forwards.  Moving quickly she was on him in a moment with the bindings on her wrists tight across his throat.  Predictably his friend moved to assist his downed comrade and as he moved to attack Clarke’s back she rolled to the side taking her immobilized victim with her.  The other guard overbalanced and toppled forward as his strike connected with empty air.  As the guard choked for air Clarke quickly took advantage of his incapacity to release him and yank his sword from its scabbard.  In a moment she was armed once more and on her feet.  Nimbly spinning the blade she severed the bindings around her wrists and prepared to face the two guards.

“Em pleni!”

In all the confusion, Clarke and her two guards had failed to notice the arrival of Lexa and most of her entourage.  Now Lexa stood neatly framed between the two doors into her chambers fuming with rage.

“Drop the sword Clarke.” Lexa commanded shortly. 

Clarke glanced down at her two guards and then back up at Lexa before throwing the weapon to the ground with a disgusted look and kicking it back towards the guard that it belonged to.

“Heda, the Tsee girl is dangerous.” A dark skinned woman interjected from behind Lexa. “She should be executed now or at least locked up.”

“Shof op Indra.” Lexa growled as she pinched the bridge of her nose in irritation.

“Heda I agree with Indra.” Titus added. “The Tsee girl is a danger, she has already made an assault on your person.  Now she assaults your guards.  These crimes cannot be ignored.”

“Titus, I value your counsel but you shall mind your place, lest I put you in it permanently.”

“Yes Heda.” Titus seemed to shrink away from the Heda who by this point positively radiated anger.

“Indra, discipline the guards.  They have no excuse for being bested by bound prisoner.  Everyone else out.” Lexa ordered.

“But Heda, the Tsee girl.” Indra tried.

“Em pleni!  Gon we!” Lexa snapped.

The entourage of guards and advisors seemed to collectively slink away under the force of Lexa’s ire until Clarke and Lexa were left alone in her quarters.  The doors slammed shut behind Lex signalling that they were alone once again.

“That was an exceptionally stupid thing you just did Clarke.” Lexa sighed as she walked towards Clarke.

“I draw the line when people start to take liberties with me, _Heda_.” Clarke snapped back.

“This leaves you in a very difficult position now.”

“Oh, and why is that?”

“My council will now be less likely to trust you and concordantly less likely to want to let you live.” Lexa explained.

“Lexa, I don’t even begin to claim to know why you have any interest in letting an orphaned Skaikru cum Tseekru scout live but we both know that your council would have been baying for my blood regardless of what I did.  The affront to the person of the commander would have been reason enough for them to want to punish me and, from what I’ve heard of your people, imprisonment isn’t something they would favour.”

Lexa let out another long sigh as she turned away from Clarke. “You are unusually perceptive when it comes to the internal workings of Polis and unfortunately quite correct.”

Lexa turned back to face Clarke and her face was transformed from irritated to deadly serious. “Hear me now Clarke, if you want to live through what comes next then you must follow my instructions to the letter.”

Clarke considered for a moment.  While she couldn’t trust Lexa the Heda of the twelve clans had gone out of her way to try and keep Clarke alive.  It was safe to assume that Lexa wasn’t doing all of this for any reason as simplistic as a sense of duty to Clarke for saving her life.  This could only mean that Clarke was valuable to her for some other reason which in turn meant that Clarke had some leverage over the Heda.

“Lexa, before I even consider agreeing to whatever you are going to propose I need to know one thing.  What do you hope to gain from keeping me alive?  What is it about me that makes me valuable to you?”

Lexa studied her astutely for a moment before answering. “Why don’t you tell me what makes you unique amongst all the other Outriders of the Tseekru.”

“The fact that I fell from the sky?”

“Correct.”

Clarke shook her head at that. “Lexa, how is that even valuable to you?  The people of the Ark are all dead.  Aren’t they?”

Lexa cocked her head at Clarke before wetting her lips to respond but Clarke cut her off.  “No, no, no.”  Clarke stuttered as she divined what Lexa was about to say. “I saw the dropship explode.  I watched the Ark burn up.  They can’t be alive.”

“Your people are very much alive.” Lexa responded simply.

Clarke scarcely heard her as she struggled to breath.  The ghosts she had lived with for three years weren’t really ghosts but they were alive.  The Ark must have managed a soft landing during the re-entry.  Her breathing became increasingly erratic as she struggled to cope with her new reality.  She was stirred from her trance by Lexa giving her a firm shake.

“Clarke, focus.” Lexa ordered. “Focus on my voice.”

Clarke managed to bring Lexa back into focus with a great deal of effort.  “How?”

“The detonation of what you call the ‘drop-ship’ brought the Floudonkru fishing fleet down on your friends.  Many were pulled from the water still alive.”

“What happened to them.”

Lexa released Clarke and turned away from her. “They were integrated into our society as servants as are our customs when a tribe is destroyed.”

“Slaves more like.” Clarke spat in contempt. “I know enough about Grounder culture that nothing comes freely.”

Lexa turned back to Clarke her face hard and impassive. “I will not apologize for our culture to you.  They have had a fair life.  Once they reach five years of service they will be freed and integrated into whatever cultures that they now serve.  Some have already integrated and have started families.”

“Families?” Clarke asked skeptically.

“Yes, but they are not the problem.  The ones from what you call the Ark landed six months after we had taken the survivors of the drop-ship.  They emerged from the wreckage of their ships and set to work claiming the land for themselves.  The council and I viewed them as a hostile force and tried to drive them from our lands.”

“Let me guess, that didn’t go so well did it?” Clarke replied snidely.  Her earlier shock giving way to anger as she discovered that Lexa had been trying to exterminate what was left of her people.

_If you can even been called one of them anymore.  Look at yourself Clarke, you are as much grounder as Lexa now._ Her traitorous inner voice interjected.  _Righteous anger is so much easier than considered thought, though?_

Lexa was reluctant when she answered. “Your people are resourceful and they are located near the Mountain.  We dare not raise a large army near the Mountain lest they call forth the acid fog on us.”

“Those are excuses Lexa.  What we’re dancing around is the fact that you attacked the Skaikru and were soundly defeated.”

“Several times.” Lexa added hanging her head in shame at her failures.

“I still don’t get where I fit in Lexa.” Clarke said harshly.

“Clarke, I need someone from the Skaikru to help me negotiate a peace between our peoples.  You are an outsider and the only one who has any hope of building a bridge between our peoples.

Clarke felt something crawling up her throat and as much she fought to keep her composure she couldn’t help herself as she burst into manic laughter.  Lexa’s face fell as she watched Clarke’s reaction.

“You. Want. Me to negotiate a peace?” Clarke said between wheezing bouts of laughter.

“Yes Clarke.”

“Even if I wanted to help you Lexa, which I don’t, have you looked at me?  If my people looked at me they wouldn’t see Clarke Griffin anymore, they’d see a Grounder – the enemy.”  Clarke paused for a moment as the full realization struck her. “Oh my god.  What have I done?  All those years hiding in the forest while my people were slaves.  What am I now?”

She sunk down to her knees as the manic laughter gave way to the great bubble of guilt and self-loathing  that threatened to strangle her.  Sobs shook her body as she faced the truth of what she had done, somewhere very early along her path it had become easier to turn her back on her past and her pain.  In doing so she had become blind to signs which might have told her that her people were still alive.  All the years only letting the loss and pain out only on her birthday came back to her with a fearful vengeance.

Lexa was there, beside her carefully rubbing her back as she struggled to ride out her emotions.

“Clarke,” Lexa began softly as her grief subsided. “I know I may be your enemy now for what I have done to your people but you need to listen to me now.  You did what you needed to do to take an impossible situation and survive.”

Clarke shook her head mournfully. “I could have done something … anything.  I’m a coward Lexa.”

“No Clarke.  There was nothing you could have done then but you have the chance to do something now, something meaningful to your peoples’ lives.  Help them.  Help all of us to leave this long night of war and bloodshed behind us.  Help me make peace with them.”

Clarke sucked in a deep breath.  “If I do this, if I even can do this, then I need your promise that you will release all my people.  They are of the Ark and they deserve to be with their families again.”

“I will release all that want to go Clarke.” Lexa replied sincerely.

Clarke turned to Lexa and stared at her with red rimmed eyes. “I also need you to know that if you betray me or play me false then there is no action I will not take, no path I will not tread, to make you pay.  Jus drein, jus draun.”

“I understand Clarke.”

“Then tell me what I need to do.”


	5. Before Making A Move

Lexa was comfortable ensconced in her throne once again one leg casually crossed over the other as she pretended to listen to one of the ambassadors make a vain play for increasing the weight of his vote in council meetings simply because his people provided the majority of the food for Polis during the cold winter months.  The ambassador finished his speech and took his seat once more and the other councillors resoundingly voted down the proposal.  Lexa fought down a yawn as she gave a curt nod to indicate that she approved the results of the vote.

“That leaves us with only one further piece of business – the matter of the Heda’s prisoner.” Titus intoned solemnly.

Lexa gestured to the guards to bring in the prisoner and tried to keep herself from fidgeting anxiously.  There were so many things that could go wrong, so many things that could keep her from realizing her goal of peace between the twelve clans and the Skaikru.  An end at last to the hated Maunon was finally, distantly, in sight.

Clarke was led in flanked by two guards.  She had changed into the warrior’s garb Lexa had given her – a short woolen coat and leather leggings completed by a pair of leather riding boots.  She stood somewhat defiantly before the assembled council.

“We are here to hear the case against the Heda’s prisoner – Clarke kom Tseekru.” Titus continued. “She stands accused of attempting to imprison the Heda of the twelve clans and of assaulting two of the Heda’s personal guard.  Both are grievous charges.  Are there any mitigating factors?”

“I will speak on the accused’s behalf.” Lexa said, rising from her throne. “While I do not dispute the charges the accused did save my life by killing a number of Rippas and by tending to an injury I received on the battlefield.”

“Clarke kom Tseekru, is this true?”

Clarke nodded her assent.

“So noted.  Does the accused have anything she wishes to make known before the Heda renders judgement?”

Clarke advanced carefully forward before sinking to one knee before Lexa. “I wish only to say that my intent was only to save the life of a member of the twelve clans and never to hold her against her will.  It was never my intent to hold captive the Heda of the twelve clans and for my unknowing transgression I humbly beg forgiveness.” 

Clarke bowed her head as soon as she had finished.

Lexa allowed herself the appearance of considering what Clarke had said before speaking up. “Very well Clarke kom Tseekru.  I am satisfied by what I have found out about you that you speak true and I have counted this in your favour.  Nevertheless you committed a crime against the leader of the Trikru and example must be made.  Bearing this in mind I sentence you to one year of service to the twelve clans.”

Clarke exhaled almost noiselessly.

“I also know that while your allegiance lies to the Tseekru now it was not always so.” Lexa continued. “You were born into the Skaikru before they fell from grace to the ground.”

A furor of whispering erupted from the seated councillors.

“Since you know the Skaikru better than any others in this room and since you have the vaunted skills of a Tseekru Outrida it would be a pity to waste you in menial labour and therefore I grant you a singular chance.  Swear your loyalty to me and I will grant you the privilege of serving as my envoy.”

A very pregnant silence greeted Lexa’s words as the entire council seemed to hold its breath.

“Ai badan yu kiln Heda Lexa kom Trikru.  Ai swega yu klin na gouba raun bilaik yu gafen laik ai gafen.” Clarke intoned solemnly in Trigedasleng.

Lexa was impressed.  While she had coached Clarke on what to say she had never expected the resourceful Skai girl to swear fealty in Trigedasleng. 

“We have all witnessed Clarke swear fealty to the Heda and we shall all hold her to her words.” Titus added, reverting back to English.

Lexa motioned to one of her guards who stepped forward to present her one of the red side cloaks that all of her closest guards and advisors wore.  She held it out to Clarke who rose and took the cloak before sinking back to one knee.

“Missari Clarke you have been judged.  You are now free to carry out the will of the Heda.  You may go.” Titus finished.

Clarke rose and bowed curtly to Lexa before retreating from the chamber.  Lexa returned to her throne this time fighting hard to prevent a satisfied smile from plastering itself over her lips.  The council was doubtless shocked by the fact that Lexa had shown mercy to the Skai girl and that she had so swiftly elevated her from a bound servant to an office that enjoyed a degree of respect and power.  They would doubtlessly be even more perplexed by how Lexa had gotten a member of the Tseekru to agree to serve her willingly.  While they would be busily pondering what other hidden assets Lexa had they would be defanged, allowing her the freedom she needed to conclude the peace between the twelve clans and Skaikru.  Step by step she was moving closer to her goals, now all she had to do was keep Clark under control.

***

The council meeting wound up later that evening and Lexa was almost surprised to find Clarke patiently waiting for her outside the council chambers when she remembered that Clarke really had nowhere else to be.

“Missari.”

“Heda.”

“Walk with me.”

The two fell into an awkward silence as Lexa led the way back to her quarters.  Dismissing her guards Lexa led the way into her chambers.  As Clarke entered she seemed to size up the rooms before settling into one of the chairs in the outer room with a sigh.

“Well done Clarke.” Lexa said as she poured water into a pair of glasses.

“I believe the credit goes entirely to you _Heda_.”  There was a hard edge to Clarke’s voice as she took the glass that Lexa offered her.  It was understandable to Lexa but it also let her know that she had a long way to go before she convinced Clarke of her motivations.  Without Clarke’s unwavering support she had almost no chance of convincing the Skaikru to talk peace.  If she ever did get to the point of negotiation with the Skaikru she would again be depending on Clarke to provide her with insight into the mindset of the Skaikru.

Lexa sipped her water and considered Clarke just as the other woman stared back at her as though sizing her up. “Now that you are my Missari …”

“And just what does that mean?” Clarke interrupted

“You are familiar with the Gonasleng term emissary?” At Clarke’s nod Lexa continued. “Same thing.  As I was saying, you are now presumed to be one of my representatives which means that I alone am responsible for you.  Before you ask this is not a license to do as you please Clarke.  You are still subject to our laws.”

“Harsh laws to be sure.”

“It is our way.  If you are quite done being critical then we can proceed to the important matters?” Lexa asked rhetorically. “I want you to act as my representative to the Skaikru in ending the ongoing war between my people.”

“That simple?” Clarke asked seriously.

“Hardly.  I want the Skaikru to use that technology that they so jealously guard for themselves to help me bring down the Mountain.”

“Lexa are you absolutely certain that these Maunon of yours really exist?  Has anyone actually been into the Mountain?”

“Oh yes.  No one has returned from the Mountain but they do go into the Mountain.  The Ripas we have killed have been identified as once being members of the twelve clans.”

Clarke settled back uncomfortably at this revelation. “What makes you think that there are people other than these Ripas in the Mountain?”

“While the Ripas are mindless savages the Mountain has reached out to strike several times.  They used a weapon that I believe you would call a ‘cruise missile’ to destroy an entire village.  On other occasions near the Mountain their soldiers have been spotted garbed entirely in a greenish material and wearing masks.”

“Radiation suits.” Clarke supplied. “They must be vulnerable to the environment outside of the Mountain.”

“Regardless the Maunon do exist and they have been a blight on the land ever since the rain of fire.”  Lexa concluded. “They must be wiped out for peace to have any kind of chance.”

“This is all well and good but I don’t see why the people of the Ark would agree to help you especially after you’ve been at war with them since they landed.”

“That’s where you come in Clarke.  I need to understand what motivates them.”

Clarke snorted. “Getting to back to Earth _was_ what motivated them.  Now your guess would be as good as mine.”

Lexa sat down opposite Clarke with a sigh. “Did you have any family beyond your Father left on the Ark as you call it?”

“My mother.” Clarke swallowed.

“What do you think your mother would give to see you alive again?  What would you give to see her again?” Lexa asked shrewdly.

“What kind of question is that Lexa?” Clarke began angrily until Lexa held up her hand to still her ire.

“I meant no offense Clarke.  For us family is second to duty.  We love our children just as you love yours but all of us know that death may come at any time and we all must do our part to hold it at bay.  Death is a part of our lives and we are prepared to accept it.”

“That’s an awfully fatalistic way of looking at the world.”

“You cannot live a lie Clarke.  Reality must be confronted.”

“What are you getting at Lexa?”

“When a prisoner is taken by the Maunon or by another clan they are presumed dead as soon as they are captured.  If they are freed it is seen as a blessing but we will never sacrifice the many for the few or the one.  From what I have observed of your people they look upon every life as being one and the same to the many.  They will exert themselves to feats of heroism in pursuit of the slimmest chance of saving one of their own.”

“You sound like you admire them.”

“They have admirable qualities, yes.  Within every strength there is a weakness though.”

“Not when it comes to protecting your people.”

“On that we agree.  Take yourself for example.  Your first instinct on learning of your people’s survival was to work for their freedom.  What I need to know is whether or not your leaders would follow your example.  Would offering up the lives of the prisoners to the Skaikru be enough to create peace?  Would your leaders honour such a bargain?”

Clarke rose suddenly and walked to Lexa’s balcony.  Lexa could hear her taking a deep breath.  “I want to say that they would be willing to make peace for the lives of the prisoners.  I want to tell you that the leaders of the Skaikru could be trusted.”

“But?”

“Reality must be confronted.”

Lexa felt her face fall.

“The prisoners were sent to the grounder on a one in a million chance that they may be able to survive.  They didn’t just send one person to see if it was safe, or a probe, they sent all of us knowing that we may die horribly.” Clarke spoke softly without turning from the balcony.  “We were … expendable.  We will always be expendable because that is the only way our leaders know.”

“Victory stands on the back of sacrifice.”

“Tell that to the mothers mourning their sons and daughters.”

“I do.”

“Then that is why you do not understand the Skaikru, Lexa.  Their culture is alien to yours.”

“Clarke, if the Skaikru leaders cannot be trusted then how can we ever make peace?”

Clarke turned her eyes catching the candlelight. “We go to the people.”

“I do not understand.”

“The people of the Ark have the power to influence their leaders.  If we return some of the prisoners as a gesture of good faith then their families will be grateful.”

“You want me to give the Skaikru more able bodied warriors?” Lexa scoffed.

“A few prisoners won’t make a difference in the grand scheme of things but the diplomatic gains are priceless.  The other parents who have not yet been reunited with their children will pressure the leaders of the Ark to negotiate.  Once they are all returned they will be hesitant to sacrifice them so readily again.”

Lexa pondered what Clarke had said for a moment. “If we pursue this strategy, how would we make it work?”

Clarke’s eyes were alive as she sat back down, Lexa could tell she was already well into planning out how to make the negotiations work. “I would need to see the prisoners first.  We can see who survived and make a list of who would be willing to be repatriated.  Once we know who we can return to the Ark we just have to figure out a way to make contact with the Ark.  Who leads the Ark now?”

“The matter of leadership is in dispute at the moment.  The previous leader, Jaha, was recently deposed.  Our scouts indicated it was fatigue with the ongoing war and Jaha’s belief in a place called the City of Light.  We observed him and a group of Skaikru leaving their fortress several weeks ago.” Lexa explained. “We suspect that political infighting has broken out within the Skaikru and that a man named Pike is poised to take control of the government.”

“I’m not going to ask how you know all this or if there’s a connection between your sudden desire to make peace and the political turmoil within the Ark.” Clarke said coolly. “You had better hope that Pike doesn’t come to power in the Ark.”

“Why?”

“He believes in something called manifest destiny.  Basically that the Earth belongs to the people of the Ark and no-one else.  I very much doubt he has allowed reality to cloud his view of the world.”  Clarke answered bitterly. “Many of the Skaikru also subscribed to that view.”

“Then they are fools.” Lexa was unable to stop herself from condemning them.

“Perhaps, but fools are often more dangerous than sane people.  They can’t be reasoned with, they have an unshakeable belief in their cause, and they won’t be satisfied until they win.”  It was almost as though Clarke was speaking from personal experience.

“Then we must reach out to the moderates and exclude Pike before it’s too late.  We will leave for Tondisi in three days.  I must make preparations to ensure that the council is taken care of in my absence.”  Lexa reasoned.

“And what about me?” Clarke asked.

“Gustus!” Lexa shouted in the direction of the door.

Her faithful bodyguard was standing before them moments later.  He seemed to be sizing up Clarke as a potential threat while for her part, Clarke was giving him a suspicious look. “Yes Heda?”

“Gustus, arrange quarters for Clarke.” Lexa ordered.

“Sha, Heda.” Gustus replied with a slight smirk.

“Goodnight Heda.” Clarke sighed as she rose from her seat opposite Lexa.

As they were leaving Lexa couldn’t resist spoiling Gustus’ fun.  She knew what his smirk meant. “Oh and Gustus, nice quarters.” 

Gustus was less than enthusiastic when he nodded his assent and gave Clarke a rather forceful poke to get her moving.  Clarke shot him a death glare as they left the room.  As the doors closed Lexa let a soft chuckle escape her lips at the combative relationship between Gustus and Clarke.

Without the pressure of having her every move watched she stretched and groaned.  She had not slept in what felt like days.  Picking her way to her bed she stripped quickly out of her armour and flopped onto the bed with a weary sigh.  She was asleep moments later.

***

Lexa was standing in the middle of the farmers’ fields outside Arkadia.  The sky was a deep blood red as smoke from dozens of small fires wound its way into the sky.  The battlefield reeked of the smoke and she felt as though she could barely breathe.  All around her, her warriors engaged the Skaikru guardsmen in hand to hand combat.  As she looked up the round wheel section of the Ark that had rammed itself into the ground during the fall was wreathed in fire like some unholy icon in the night sky.  As Lexa watched a group of guards armed with rifles came running towards them.  There were shouts of dismay from her warriors as some were gunned down ruthlessly.  Staring down the barrels of the rifles Lexa was certain that she was watching the end of her people at the hands of the Skaikru.

The Skaikru guards paused for a moment as though they heard something.  A distant rumble like the sound of thunder rolled through the battle.  It was rhythmic and repeated like a drum beat but unlike a drumbeat it seemed to resonate through the ground.  With each passing second the beat grew louder until Lexa recognized it for what it was – the hoofbeats of dozens of horses.  As Lexa turned she could see a small forest of steel tipped lances advancing towards her, their owners hidden behind a small rise.  Each lance carried a small banner but the larger ensign was what caught her eye – a brilliant white sun on a night sky.  The banner was unlike any she had seen before.  She scarcely had any time to reflect on this as the first lancers crested the rise and emerged into full view.  The lancers were dressed all in black their faces covered by exquisitely cast masks that seemed almost demonic.  The lancers themselves were bulky under their layers of armour and their horses were similarly armoured. 

A flash of light caught her eye and for the first time Lexa noticed the leader of the host of hell-spawned lancers.  She was similarly dressed to her soldiers but unlike her men she wore a bright white cloak that billowed in the wind behind her.  Her blonde hair was woven into her crown like the rays of a golden sun.  She brandished her sword high above her as she urged her soldiers onwards.  It was at that moment that Lexa realized that the leader of the lancers was none other than Clarke, her one time prisoner.  Like some sort of avatar of Mars she rode down towards the melee before her and for a moment Lexa thought that she was riding in to attack the Trikru but then the strangest thing happened.  At a sharp command the lancers wheeled around the main melee and rode hard for the gun armed Skaikru.  Lowering their lances the formation closed ranks as it barreled towards the Skaikru.  The Skaikru guard panicked and scattered before the formation of terrifying horsemen making them easy prey.  With the Skaikru dispersed Clarke wheeled her horse around to confront Lexa.

Lexa woke up in a cold sweat just as she made eye contact with the dream Clarke.  The vision had been so real that she could still smell the harsh smoke of the battlefield.  She had never been so sure that the vision had been of the future in her life but what could it mean?


	6. Polis

Clarke awoke with a yawn to find the late morning light greeting her.  After being dragged around the wilderness of post-apocalyptic Maryland for several days without rest save for her light nap in Lexa’s arms she had been asleep before her head hit the pillow.  Throwing off the furs that made up her covers Clarke took in her quarters.  Gustus had set her up with a rather compact but still quite habitable room within the tower containing a bed, chairs and a closet.  It was far from being the worst set of quarters Clarke had ever inhabited – the Sky box still held that honour – but it was a far cry from the opulence Lexa’s quarters.

At some point during the night someone had left a bundle of clothes for her to change into.  Clarke quickly sorted through what she had been given before selecting a clean undershirt, a light homespun sweater and a pair of dark pants.  Throwing on the overcoat Lexa had given her last night she considered herself in the mirror.  A set of dark rings had asserted themselves under her eyes and her hair was a  mess.  She had left most of it unbraided on her birthday and had never had much of an opportunity to reorganize her coiffure.  Braids were a point of pride even within the Ship Clan’s relatively enlightened ranks and were used to denote success in battle, momentous occasions and even loss.  Clarke traditionally wore a pair of black braids in memory of her fellow prisoners and her mother along with a quartet of red braids representing her successes as an Outrider.  The process of plaiting the braids and then weaving them into the rest of her hairstyle was long work and Clarke doubted she had the time to do it this morning so she settled for her typical sniper’s hairstyle – a utilitarian ponytail bound up with a piece of red string to keep it out of her eyes.

Stepping out of her room she was surprised to find that she was unguarded although she realized that it made little enough difference since she hadn’t any idea of how to leave the tower.  After asking a guard that was ambling down the hallway the opposite way she had an idea of the way to the stairs.  Several dozen flights later she was at the exit to Polis proper.  Stepping outside she was greeted with the shouts and cries of playing children, market vendors, and generally cheerful grounder civilians.  Clarke was taken aback, she was so used to seeing the fearsome warriors of the Trikru or the dour villagers that inhabited the Southern reaches that she had forgotten that smiling and being a member of the Woods Clan weren’t mutually exclusive.  Taking a deep breath she inhaled the scents of fresh bread, meat and spices that wafted through the air.  It almost reminded her of the markets of Norfolk.  Forcing down a tiny stab of homesickness for her adopted home, Clarke set off to find some breakfast.

She was eventually able to find the open-air mess hall that was given over to the guard and was quite surprised when they served her without question.  Then she remembered that the Heda’s badge of office – her ball and chain tying her to Lexa, at least for the moment – was securely affixed to her overcoat.  She had just started digging into her bowl of oatmeal and cinnamon when one of the Trikru warriors sat down opposite her with a sigh.  Clarke sized up the man seated opposite her trying to determine the reason why he had invaded her privacy.  He was of medium build sporting the same thick brown hair and brown beard that most of the grounder warriors had.  All in all, for a warrior, he was almost non-descript.

“Welcome to Polis, Clarke.” He addressed her.

“How do you know my name?” Clarke asked suspiciously.

“We have a friend in common.”

_The opening code phrase_. Clarke realized.

“Oh, is she blue?” Clarke responded.

“At the moment she’s quite red.” Her contact replied giving the appropriate countersign.

“What the hell is the Ship Clan agent doing embedded in the middle of the Wood’s clan’s warriors?” Clarke hissed trying to avoid drawing attention herself.

“Classified.” The contact replied simply. “There is a general goods store down the road.  Go in.  Ask for a drawing pad.  You won’t see me again.”

With that he rose and left leaving Clarke halfway to perplexed.  Her tradecraft kicked in a moment later to remind her to look normal and so she went back to pensively eating her breakfast.  As soon as she finished she rose casually and ambled down the street.  Noting the building her contact had identified she ambled by it nonchalantly and browsed a nearby market stall selling the traditionally reconditioned Trikru attire.  Periodically looking around her she soon became convinced that she wasn’t being tailed though her every instinct warned her that Lexa would never be so cavalier about letting her wander unaccompanied.

Retracing her steps she entered the general goods store.  The shop was mostly empty, a woods clan civilian was sifting through a bin full of old fasteners looking for something to repair her coat with.  The shopkeeper sat behind a counter studying an old book through a cracked magnifying glass.  The store itself was rather gloomy, it’s dusty shelves of old world knickknacks illuminated only by a few glassless windows.  Clarke made her way to the counter and did her best to look casual.  The shopkeeper looked up at her owlishly.

“I was wondering if you could help me find something.  Would you happen to have a drawing pad?”

The shopkeeper’s eyes narrowed as he considered her and then the red cloak before returning his gaze to her face. “I believe I may have something in the backroom.  Perhaps you’d like to come with me?”

Clarke followed the shopkeeper as he led the way into the backrooms of the store.  If it was even possible the backrooms were even gloomier than the front of the store.  Eventually he stopped outside an open door and gestured for her to enter.  Clarke went in and was hardly surprised when the shopkeeper closed the door behind her.  She heard the bolt slide home and his retreating footsteps as he returned to the shop front.  The room itself was on old store room with its walls lined with empty shelves and the centre of the room dominated by a single table.  It was illuminated only by a set of narrow skylights which provided only a patchy illumination.  A hooded figure sat at the table her faced shrouded in shadows.  Clarke waited for the other woman to make the first move.

“Not very smart getting captured in your own home Clarke.” The other woman said as she casually struck a match and lit the single candle that sat on the table between them.  As the candle caught she blew out the match and with her opposite hand pulled back her hood.

It took a moment for Clarke to recognize exactly who it was she was standing opposite before instinct took over and she snapped to attention.  “My lady.”

Mara rose from the table opposite Clarke and let out a deep, husky laugh. “Oh come now Clarke, I may be the Miral of the Ship Clan but that doesn’t give you leave to address me as such.  Come and sit with me sister.”

Clarke sat down cautiously opposite the Ship Clan commander.  It had been over a year since they had seen each other and it was never far from Clarke’s mind that she owed much to Mara.  It had also been a long standing source of confusion that Mara had taken such a personal interest in Clarke’s assimilation into the society of the Ship Clan.  Mara herself had publicly acknowledge Clarke as her ‘sister’ which was a euphemistic term to indicate that Clarke was one of Mara’s chosen successors though by no means the only one.  What it translated into for Clarke is that Mara had named herself Clarke’s patron and expected her to follow the very set and predetermined path of five years of being an Outrider followed by two years of being an officer inside Norfolk.  Following that she would have her pick of assignments until such a time that Mara would resign from her position or she died.  At which point the council would pick the most worthy candidate from the ranks of Mara’s ‘brothers and sisters’ to succeed her.  The reason why Mara had expended so much effort into Clarke was still a source of mystery but she suspected it had something to with the undercurrent of superstition that ran through Ship Clan society coupled with the circumstances of Clarke’s arrival on Earth.  The whole business had left Clarke somewhat torn between being covertly suspicious of Mara and in awe of the other woman.  One thing that was never in doubt was her loyalty – until now.

“So Clarke it seems you’ve had a busy couple of days.” Mara said jokingly as she returned to her seat opposite Clarke.

“That would be a prize understatement.” Clarke snorted as she catalogued the past several days in her mind. “Although, I get the impression that you already know the broad strokes.”

“Deduction, very good.  You are correct by the way and also by pure happenstance exactly where you are supposed to be.  I sent Yana out to collect you from your safe house but when she arrived she found signs of a struggle as well as the traces of a Nightblood.”

“Nightblood?”

“Your friend, the Heda, is one.  Their blood is black hence the winsome moniker.  Anyway, Yana set out after you and trailed you from a discreet distance.  When you entered Polis she came to find me.”  Mara trailed off for a moment before eyeing Clarke.  “Now perhaps you can tell me why I am here?”

Clarke sighed.  Deductive logic games where one of Mara’s favourite pastimes and she enjoyed subjecting many of her colleagues to them in an effort to ‘get them to think strategically’.  Clarke had to admit that it was a valuable exercise. “Yana was sent to bring me to Polis to meet with you.  Judging by your presence here, incognito, you arrived to discuss a new assignment with me.  From your choice of location I can deduce that it involves the Twelve Clans.  Beyond that I am at a loss.”

“Very astute Clarke.  I was here to discuss your new assignment with you – you were to take over operations for the area around Polis and to act as a more overt rather than covert presence for the Ship Clan.”

“I don’t understand.  You want me to be your ambassador to the Twelve Clans?”

“Precisely.  Our last ambassador is returning to the capital and we needed someone to represent us and forge closer ties with the Woods Clan.  After your work at Grey Harbour with the Boat Clan I believed that you would be the ideal candidate for the job.”

“You mean the massacre of Grey Harbour.” Clarke replied grimly.  The mere mention of the name brought back memories of the burning village.

“You could hardly be held responsible for what happened to the people of the village after you left.”

“I should have stayed.”

“And done what?  Died with the villagers?  It was their choice to stay.”

“I was the one that made them believe that they could hold the village.” Clarke said quietly.

Mara stood and walked down the length of the table until she stood next to Clarke before sitting back down. “You did what you thought was right to help the people of that village and you more than paid the Azgeda back for their transgression.  I think you would have a fearsome reputation if any of the members of the coalition ever learned the truth.”

“I asked to go unrecognized for a reason and now you want to dig that up for the political gain of the Clan?” Clarke snapped.

Mara grabbed Clarke by the shoulders and fixed her with a piercing stare. “Clarke, you cannot keep holding your ghosts so close to your heart.  We all suffer loss and you’ve suffered more than your fair share but you have to recognize the good that you’ve done.  You cannot save everyone Clarke but you can honour their sacrifices.”

“I can honour their sacrifices by cynically exploiting them for political gain?”

“What better legacy could someone wish for than being remembered as helping to bring about an era of peace?”

“You want peace with the Coalition?”

“That’s all we’ve ever wanted to be at peace with our neighbours.  Trust does not come easy when your neighbours are a martial society fixed on internecine conflict.”

“What’s changed?”

“All our intelligence indicates that the Coalition is becoming war weary.  The half century of war is starting to catch up with them.”

Clarke laughed. “You couldn’t be more wrong.”

“что?” Mara exclaimed reverting into the common tongue of the Ship Clan.

“Oh yes.  The Coalition has suffered several major defeats at the hands the Arkers – my people, Mara.” Clarke’s anger bubbled to the surface as she prepared to confront her mentor.  “They’re still alive.”

Several different emotions seemed to play across Mara’s face as she recoiled from Clarke. “What do you mean alive?”

“As in they didn’t burn up on re-entry.  Even some of the delinquents survived as slaves to the Coalition.  The real question is how long have you known?”

“We had no idea.”

“How can you not have known?  We have eyes everywhere.  We even have agents here in Polis.”

Mara sighed. “Yes I knew that we had found parts of the Ark in the lands far to the North of Mt. Weather but they were all deserted or graves.  I went out of my way to suppress this information for your sake Clarke.”

Just as Clarke was poised to explode into recriminations her anger dissipated.  She realized that Mara had only done what she had thought was best for her. “So long as I have your word that you knew nothing of the Arkers being alive then I can accept that.”

“Consider it given Clarke.” Mara said. “The Coalition has integrated your people into their society well.  What really concerns me is the fact that we missed your people’s new home completely.”

“Oh that’s not too hard to explain.  Do you have a map?” Clarke asked her voice evening out as she focussed her attention on the problem.

Mara walked back to her seat and rooted around in the bag she had hidden by the table.  To the Ship Clan maps were power and to be without a means of recording observations when away from Norfolk was almost criminal.  Half of Clarke’s role when she wasn’t on a mission was simply to engage in surveying work for the cartographers back in Norfolk.  Mara returned to Clarke’s seat and unfolded a map of the area in front of both of them. 

Clarke took the proffered pencil and proceeded to get her bearings on the map.  “If we start from the premise that they landed inside the Mt. Weather exclusion zone and that they came in on a ballistic trajectory then they likely landed here.”  Clarke marked a location on the map to the south west of the Mountain. 

Mara nodded pensively as she considered the map. “That seems like a reasonable inference.  Since none of our Outriders venture into the exclusion zone out of the danger from the acid fog and those berserk tribals it would be possible for your people to hide there effectively.  But it doesn’t explain how they’ve survived.”

“That’s a mystery that if the Heda knows the answer to then she isn’t telling.  All she confided in me is that they’re a thorn in her side and that she wants me to patch up relations with them.”

Clarke could see the wheels turning in Mara’s head as she processed the new intelligence. “Then our course of action is clear.  You will stay the course with the Heda and try to mend relations between the Coalition and the Arkers.  Once that is done you’ll be able to return to your people.”

_But are they still my people?_ Clarke asked herself.

“What if I don’t want to go back to them?”

“You’ve wanted to see them again ever since you landed.  What could possess you to say such a thing?” Mara asked as though perplexed.

“I don’t know.” Clarke replied shaking her head doubtfully. “I’m just not sure that I’d fit in anymore.  Three years is a long time.”

“Doubts are natural.” Mara counselled. “It’s important to determine whether or not they are simply your fears or something more.  The only way to satisfy them is to get more information which means you’re going to have to keep working with Lexa.”


	7. Betrayal

Lexa hummed tunelessly to herself as she stood watching the general goods store.  It had been almost twenty minutes since Clarke had gone in and she knew that despite Clarke’s attempts at feigning innocence there was something more going on.  It was always wheels within wheels and plans within plans when it came to the Tseekru and Clarke was doing a good a job of living up to the stereotype.

That morning one of Lexa’s guards had come to her as she was having breakfast to let her know that Clarke had left the tower.  She had been halfway curious to see what Clarke would do with her illusion of freedom and had almost been disappointed when the guard reported that she had made a beeline for the mess hall.  The next report of one of her own warriors joining Clarke for breakfast had been interesting enough for Lexa to throw on some neutral coloured clothing and head out into Polis proper.  When she had arrived one of her warriors had reported that Clarke had gone into the general goods store despite walking by it and being overly aware of her surroundings.  Now Lexa and several of her guard were staking out the store just to see what would emerge.

Clarke left the store first carrying a cloth bag and headed back towards the tower.  Slowly one of her guards detached himself from the wall that he had been supporting and casually ambled off after her.  Lexa was more curious to see who Clarke’s contact would be.  The next person to leave the store was an elderly shopkeeper who kept a small market stall in the main market.  Lexa knew the shopkeeper and he had been a fixture in Polis for his entire life – hardly a likely candidate for a spymaster.  The next departure was a tall woman dressed in a grey cloak.  Her hair was closely wrapped up in a grey scarf but a few stray strands of red hair escaped from the scarf.  She glanced around her before setting out a determined pace towards the dock.  Lexa motioned for her guards to follow her as they prepared to shadow the redhead.

They caught up with her just at the top the wharf leading down to the pier.  Several Floudonkru fishers were working at their boats but it was the long boat full of Tseekru sailors and the quartet of black clad soldiers that drew Lexa’s attention.  She could almost feel the relief exuding from the redhead as she made her way towards the boat.  Too late did the redhead realize that Lexa and her men where upon her.  Lexa grabbed her by the arm to arrest her progress to the launch.  The redhead turned towards her and her expression shifted quickly from confusion to anger until it settled into a neutral mask – one that Lexa was very familiar with having used it herself many times.

“Can I help you?” The redhead asked.

“Indeed you can.” Lexa replied firmly, still keeping a tight grip on the other woman’s bicep. “You can tell me what you and Clarke were discussing.”

A flicker of recognition slipped across the other woman’s features before her mask slipped back into place but it was all that Lexa needed to see to know that she had the right person. “I’m sorry, who?”

“Come now, acting coy doesn’t suit you.” Lexa chided before giving the woman’s arm a meaningful squeeze.

“Heda.” One of the guards interrupted.  Lexa glanced over at him and quickly followed his gaze towards the guards by the launch.  They were slowly and very menacingly advancing up the pier with drawn swords.  The redhead also followed her gaze and glanced back and forth between Lexa’s guards and her own men.  A swift shake of her head brought the guards to a halt.

“Very well Lexa.” The redhead said dropping the pretence of innocence. “What do you want?”

“For you to answer some questions.  A great many questions.”

“You are going to let me go.” The redhead answered simply.

“And why is that?” Lexa scoffed.

“Because the captain of the _Borealis’s_ standing orders are that if I do not return to the ship by mid-afternoon then he is to bring the ship into range and bombard Polis.”

Lexa glanced at the woman before glancing back at the soldiers on the pier but it was already too late.  The soldiers had re-boarded the launch and the sailors were pulling hard for open water.  As Lexa watched a flare climbed out of the launch into the morning sky.  Moments later an answering flare flew into the sky from a nearby island.  Lexa traced the flare’s origin down to the island and she watched the some of the trees seemed to sprout massive squares of white canvas.

“I’d say that you have about an hour before she enters firing range.” The redhead supplied. “Then you may have about four or five more before the captain opens fire.”

Lexa turned back to the redhead. “If he opens fire then you will die first.”

“If he opens fire then the Coalition and the Tseekru will be at war – a war that you cannot win.” The redhead predicted ominously.

“Sis em op.” Lexa ordered as she released the redhead. Her guards complied and hustled the redhead off to the tower.  Lexa grimly considered the squares of canvas as they began to move around the island.

***

Upon returning to the tower Lexa left her new guest under strict guard before setting off to find Clarke.  One way or another she would have answers from the Skai girl.  In the end she found Clarke in the practice yard behind the tower going through her katas with a dull practice sword.  Stepping into the shadows Lexa took the opportunity to watch the other woman go through a few practice thrusts and withdrawals.  Clarke was surprisingly adept with the sword despite being shorter and more compact than Lexa.  As she watched Clarke move she observed a certain economy of movement in her attacks, while not graceless there was functional element to her movement indicating to Lexa that Clarke’s martial talents likely lay with her rifle and not her sword.  Lexa suddenly realized that this was perhaps the first time she had been able to get a good look at Clarke despite all they had been through.

As though able to sense to sense someone watching her Clarke paused mid thrust and straightened up to scan her surroundings.  There was a cautiousness that was not born of nervousness or fear about her gaze.  As Clarke’s gaze met Lexa’s she realized that there was a pragmatism about the Skai girl.  She sized up her surroundings not simply looking for threats or targets but with an eye towards determining where everything around her fit and how it interacted with the other components around it.  Judging from her look it seemed as though she had yet to make up her mind about Lexa.

“Heda.”

“Clarke.”

“Care to join me?”  Clarke asked making an inviting gesture with the practice machete that she had been using.

Lexa ambled over and picked up a practice blade of her own before entering the practice yard with Clarke.  As the two stood facing each other Clarke broke the silence again. “I take it you’re here to talk about something.”

Lexa studied Clarke but the other woman was giving nothing away her eyes were scanning Lexa for the telltale signs of an impending attack. “You could say that.  I wanted to know how your morning was.”

“An awfully domestic question to ask one of your servants.”  Clarke interrupted Lexa’s reply with an exploratory thrust which Lexa easily avoided.

“Is that how you see yourself?” Lexa advanced cautiously on Clarke forcing her to give ground.

“It is what I am.” Clarke deflected Lexa’s attack and used her momentum to neatly sidestep Lexa, inverting their positions.

“I’d hardly describe you as such given the un-paralleled amount of freedom you have.” Lexa carefully deflected the series of probing slashes that Clarke launched at her defenses before counter attacking with a swipe of her own.  Clarke hissed in pain as she flexed the now bloodied knuckles of her left hand.

Backing away, Lexa could see Clarke sizing her up again.

“If you must know Lexa I went and got some breakfast and some drawing supplies before coming here to practice.  After all a blade goes dull if she isn’t honed.” Clarke quoted as she circled Lexa warily.

“Words to live by.” Lexa ground out as she as she used a rising cut to try and disarm Clarke but the Skai girl had anticipated the attack and neatly withdrew out of the way.

“I get the impression that there’s something else going on here Lexa.” Clarke concluded as she continued to circle Lexa.

“So you’re sure that was all you did this morning?” Lexa asked as she advanced towards Clarke.

“Well I did have a rather in depth discussion with the leader of the Ship Clan in the general goods store.” Clarke replied simply.  Taking advantage of Lexa’s shock she almost casually batted Lexa’s sword out of her hand.

“Not the response you were expecting?” Clarke asked with a smirk written across her face.

Lexa was not one to lose and Clarke was so smugly confident in the fact that she had won that she never saw Lexa’s next attack coming.  Batting Clarke’s sword out of the loose one handed grip she had been holding it in she drove her elbow into Clarke’s face sending her down into the sand with a dull thump.  Lexa nimbly climbed astride her defeated foe who looked up at her with a dazed expression.

“Not the response you were expecting Clarke?” Lexa asked, nonchalantly twisting Clarke’s words against her.

Clarke groaned as she shifted underneath Lexa. “This is getting to be a habit for you Lexa.”

Lexa lightly stood up and offered Clarke her hand which the defeated Skai girl took with a grumble.

“Now Clarke, I want you to tell me what it was that you and Mara discussed.”

“How do you know her name?”

“Oh I know more than that, she is sitting in a cell back at the tower and if you value your life and hers then you had best be completely truthful with me.” Lexa threatened.

Clarke’s face paled at Lexa’s revelation and she took Lexa’s arm almost unconsciously. “Lexa, this isn’t a road you want to go down.  The only thing we discussed was what you wanted with me.  There is no conspiracy against the Coalition at least not one involving the Tseekru.”

Lexa shrugged off Clarke’s hand irritably. “Your actions have called your loyalties into serious doubt Clarke.”

“You expected me to renounce my loyalties to my Clan?” Clarke scoffed disbelievingly. “I wasn’t aware loyalty to you and loyalty to the Ship Clan were mutually exclusive.  If I had known that I would have taken the servitude option instead if it meant not betraying my people.”

For a moment Lexa was almost proud of the Skai girl’s defiance, loyalty to one’s clan was highly prized amongst the Trikru and the courage to stand up for her principles was something that Lexa sympathized with.  Lexa was careful not to let her feelings show as she responded to Clarke. "You are aware of how your actions looked.”

“I am aware that you don’t trust me Lexa.” Clarke snapped back. “And while the feeling is mutual it doesn’t mean we can’t work together.  If you need my word that I won’t compromise my loyalty to you for the sake of my people then I give you that word.”

“So if we interrogate Mara she will corroborate what you have said?” Lexa asked slyly.

“If you interrogate Mara then you’re going to be facing a war on three fronts Lexa.  Is that really what you want?” Clarke shot back.  At Lexa’s nettled look she pressed on. “Let me guess, as we speak a Tseekru warship is sitting in your harbour getting ready to bombard Polis?”

“Your people do not exactly inspire trust.” Lexa spat back not enjoying the reminder that she was literally under the gun.

“Lexa, you cannot continue to act like a bully.” Clarke’s tone changed entirely from confrontation to placation. “The world around us is too harsh to be controlled by force of will alone.  You need allies and the Tseekru can be allies.”

“Do not think I am blind to what you are doing Clarke.”

“And what am I doing?”

“Advancing your people’s interests at the cost of our own.”

Clarke threw up her hands in disgust and turned away from Lexa. “If you cannot see reason then there is no hope for you Lexa.”

Lexa stood there unwilling to give ground to the Skai girl but at the same time confronting the unfortunate truth that Clarke was right.  Unfortunately she had dug herself too deeply into her predicament and could no longer see a way out of it.  Surrender and compromise was simply not in her nature but in the end nature would have to bend to reality.

“Clarke.” Lexa tried. “I will release Mara.”

Clarke turned to confront Lexa.

“She will remove her spies amongst my people as a gesture of good faith.  Once I am satisfied then we may open formal discussions about a lasting peace between our peoples.  Allies, even potential allies, do not spy on one another do they Clarke?”

 Clarke seemed to deflate slightly in relief. “You speak the truth Heda.”

“You may inform Mara of my decision.” Lexa said dismissively.

Clarke studied her for a moment before starting to leave the practice yard but Lexa caught her arm as she moved to leave.  Lexa caught her gaze for a moment. “I am glad that you trusted me enough to divulge the truth of what you did this morning.”

Clarke looked at her in surprise for a moment before she turned to proceed on her way leaving Lexa standing alone in the practice yard.


	8. Assimilation

After the near disaster that had been the incident with Mara, Clarke hardly saw Lexa again until it came time for them to depart for Tondisi.  Clarke had spent much of her time fighting boredom by practicing her swordsmanship or taking time to sketch the happenings in Polis.  The downtime between her first day in Polis and the third day had given her a great deal of time to think but inevitably her thoughts kept coming back to the enigmatic Commander.  Lexa was as frustrating as a message double enciphered in a one-time pad which was to say that just as Clarke thought she was beginning to understand Lexa some hidden motivation would rear its ugly head and cause Lexa to make a completely unfathomable decision. 

The departure for Tondisi itself was a welcome distraction and it provided Clarke with a welcome reunion between her and Vestri.  Lexa had gathered a group of ten of her guards together to accompany them on the journey although to be more accurate it was a day trip.  Clarke had a hard time containing her nerves at the prospect of seeing some of her own people again.  Part of her was excited simply at the prospect of seeing them again but another part dreaded what she might find or even how they would react to her.

_They can hardly view you as a traitor to them._ Clarke reasoned. _You’ve done what you’ve had to do to survive – just as they have._

As Clarke swung herself up on to Vestri she looked around at the other members of the guard that Lexa had gathered.  Unsurprisingly the only two she had recognized were Lexa’s mountain sized personal guards – Ryder and Gustus but as to the rest they were all unknowns.  With a casual ease Lexa took the lead and waved for the group to move out.  As they proceeded through the Polis streets Clarke glanced around her taking in the veneration that the civilians showed Lexa.  As soon as they had cleared the city limits the group eased into a steady canter.

In the middle of the group Clarke was well positioned to observe her fellow riders but there was little enough to see.  Almost to a man they regarded the foliage with a grim silence as if silently threatening whatever invisible enemies lurked in the underbrush.  It only served to make Clarke remember how painfully naked she felt without any kind of weapon.  After the debacle with Mara Lexa had seemed reluctant to trust Clarke with a weapon so now it meant that she would inevitably be forced to depend on her escorts and her own skill at hand to hand combat.

The journey wore on dully as they travelled along the narrow trail through the woods.  Periodically they would pass a group of grounders travelling the opposite direction but it was a rare occurrence.  Around noon the group stopped for a moment to stretch and consume a hasty lunch.  Clarke’s nose crinkled as she bit down on the dried meat that one of the warriors handed her.  It had rather the consistency of an old boot and Clarke suspected that she was burning more calories trying to chew it than it would yield once digested.

“Not to your liking?”

Clarke looked up to see Lexa standing opposite her, the reins of her horse gripped loosely in her hand.

“It’ll do.” She replied noncommittally.  For a while they stood there awkwardly chewing on the dried meat in silence.

“How long until we reach Tondisi?” Clarke asked, breaking the silence.

“We should be there halfway before sunset.” Lexa replied.  It had taken Clarke sometime to get used to the grounders’ imprecision when it came to discussions of time.

The silence grew pregnant once again before Clarke could stand it no longer. “Heda, what is going to happen when we reach Tondisi?”

Lexa cocked her head at Clarke’s question as though debating how to respond. “It depends largely on you Clarke.  Obviously we will do a roll call of all the Skaikru in Tondisi but after that the decision is yours.  You are the expert on the Skaikru, not I.”

Clarke scoffed to hide her own anxiety. “Growing up on the Ark hardly qualifies me as an expert.”  Clarke glanced around her to make sure that they wouldn’t be overheard. “Tell me Lexa, why did you pick me and not one of your prisoners?”

For the first time since she had known Lexa she actively appeared uncomfortable with the question. “The prisoners do not know that the Ark landed.  They have heard rumours but nothing more.  We did not want them to pointlessly try and escape to the Ark.”

“You mean you didn’t want to lose your bargaining chip or your free slaves?” Clarked hissed back in anger.

“What would you have me do Clarke?” Lexa replied her voice rising dangerously. “We wanted them to integrate into our society.  We took them in when they had nowhere else to go.”

“You took them in but you didn’t integrate them as equals.” Clarke snapped back.

“Their arrival could have been handled better but they are a part of us now and I will not have them risking their lives in a pointless bid to return to their old lives.  Most of them would not survive the journey back to Arkadia – if the wild beasts, the outcasts or the local plant life didn’t kill them then your own people probably would.”

“They wouldn’t harm their own.”

Lexa gave her a wan smile. “Oh they have already.  A patrol of your soldiers massacred a group of traders travelling from Tondisi to Losriva.  One of the people they killed was one of prisoners that survived the landing.”

“Who?”

“I believe his name was Atom.  He was the apprentice of Tondisi’s metalworker.”

Clarke sank back against a nearby tree.  When she had fallen from the sky one of the hardest things to wrap her head around had been the shear nature of the absurd.  Watching what she had believed to be the end of the delinquents at the dropship and the end of the Ark itself had forced her to confront the reality that the world around her was a bleak and uncaring entity and that it was pointless to believe that her own actions could have an impact on a force as implacable as the random hand of fate.  In the end Clarke had come to accept that while she could not absolutely overcome fate by will alone it was not a free pass to inaction and catatonia.  She had determinedly seized life on the ground in an effort to wring some form of meaning out of her journey.  Still, stories like Atom’s did tend to give Clarke pause and make her question the futility of her decisions.

“How did it come to this?” Clarke asked almost rhetorically.

“War makes beasts of us all and it has been our teacher for far too long.”

Clarke looked up at Lexa and saw something of the depths that lay beneath the harsh exterior that she tended to project.  While the grounder commander seemed to go to great pains to present herself as the stoic leader there was a sensitivity and thoughtfulness about her that Clarke found captivating.

“I suppose I understand your concerns.”

“Then you understand why it is imperative that we end this conflict.”

“I’m just not sure how to bridge a gap between two civilizations as different as the Coalition and the Ark.”

“At the end we’re all just human Clarke maybe in that you can find some answers.” Lexa concluded cryptically before remounting her horse.  “We must press on.”

Clarke sighed and followed suit.  It was going to be a long journey to Tondisi.

***

Tondisi was one of the more impressive Trikru settlements that Clarke had visited in her time on the ground.  Built up around the ruins of an old world town it was centred around what looked to Clarke like the ruins of an old subway station.  She had explored a few of them in her time in the Southern lands and had found out enough to know that they had made adequate shelters during the atomic fire.  The rest of the settlement was made up of ramshackle agglomerations of scrap metal, wood and stone that were piled haphazardly like spokes emanating from the central station. 

As she dismounted she could feel the residents’ eyes on her blonde hair, a feature that practically screamed outsider to them.  Looking about her at their suspicious gazes she shot the onlookers an equally hard look, she had learned the hard way that it was not prudent to show weakness to the Trikru. 

Lexa was already busily speaking with Indra who had ridden ahead of the party the previous day to ready the town for Lexa’s arrival.  The two were involved in a rather heated discussion and the rest of the guards were similarly occupied.  Turning back to Vestri Clarke rooted through her saddle back until she found the grey scarf that she had stashed there.  Wrapping it carefully around her head she removed her most identifying feature.  Glancing about her she slipped into the stable with Vestri, pausing only to stable her before proceeding out through an unguarded door.

Lexa would doubtless disapprove of what Clarke was doing but all her training told her that in order to understand any situation she had to draw her own conclusions free of those who might provide commentary or editorials.  Glancing around her she did her best to blend in with a group of civilians that were making their way towards the centre of the town.  Keeping her head down and with her hair covered she blended in remarkably well.  As she walked she glanced around her and caught sight of a group of delinquents.  They were still readily identifiable by some of the remnants of their clothing and the fact that they lacked the tattoos or face paint that the grounders typically used to adorn themselves. 

Clarke quietly detached herself from the group of civilians and slipped into the shadows cast by one of the nearby buildings, the late evening light provided excellent cover for her.

“I tell you that the Heda is here.” One of the women was saying.

“You’re delusional Harper” A male delinquent replied, derisively. “The Heda would never come out to an out of the way place like Tondisi.”

“Then explain to me what that column of riders was doing.”

“Probably just a patrol.”

“Then why were they wearing the Heda’s colours?”

The last comment seemed to stump the young man opposite her and he gave her a dirty look. “If you’ve got all the answers then why don’t you explain what the Heda is doing here?”

“I bet she’s here to welcome us into the Trikru.” Harper shot back impetuously. “They need all the help they can get and we’ve already proven our worth to the clan.”

“You’re dreaming or high.  Can you hook me up with some of those herbs that Monty is growing for you?” The other man scoffed.

Clarke’s eavesdropping was disrupted as two warriors sidled up beside her.  The shorter of the two, a young dark-haired woman, gave Clarke a not so friendly poke. “So what are you doing here?”

“I’m just lost.  I was trying to find my way to the city centre.” Clarke replied, doing her best to sound innocent.

“Mhm.” The dark-haired woman intoned sounding terribly unconvinced by Clarke’s excuse. “And just who are you?”

“Just a traveller.” Clarke deflected as she tried to move past the other woman.  The short woman was having none of it and gave Clarke a sharp shove back against the wall of the building.

“We aren’t done talking Miss I’m Just A Traveller.  I want your real name and the clan you serve.”

Clarke sized up the other woman searching for a weakness to exploit and to escape her current predicament.  The Delinquents had stopped their conversation and were now staring at them curiously.  As Clarke studied the other woman she realized with a start that she was one of the Delinquents and not just any Delinquent but the infamous girl under the floor. Before she could stop herself she blurted her realization out.

Octavia Blake’s expression shifted from one of amiable suspicion to an expression of deep anger.  With one hand she yanked Clarke’s scarf off and shoved her back against the wall. “And just who the fuck are you to know that?”

“Octavia.” Her stoic companion interrupted.  Octavia glanced back at him and then followed the direction of his outstretched finger back to Clarke’s outfit.  Her red cape had been dislodged by Octavia’s precipitous actions and now was freely visible.

“So what Lincoln?  She’s got a red cape.”

“She’s a member of the Heda’s entourage and you just roughed her up.”

Octavia turned back to Clarke and gave her a hard stare. “She’s an imposter.  I recognize her from the dropship – the blonde princess – but she died in the landing.”

“I guess someone forgot to send me that memo.” Clarke spat back, more angry at herself for blowing her cover than at Octavia.

“Alright princess, what are you doing here?”

“Looking for you and the rest of the 100.”

“Well it looks like you’ve found us.  Good job.”

“That much is apparent.  Although this is hardly everyone.”

“Good eye princess, while you’ve been off doing whatever you’ve been doing we’ve been surviving.  At the beginning we were parcelled off like slaves to the other clans.  We’ve had to work hard to earn our keep.  Judging from your appearance I can guess what kind of work you’ve been doing to survive.”

As rage bubbled up in Clarke’s throat pure instinct kicked in.  Throwing her head forward it connected with Octavia with a satisfying crunch.  Clarke took advantage of Octavia’s momentary disorientation to floor the other woman with a well-placed heel and a shove.  Taking care to stay out of the range of Octavia’s hands she nonchalantly circled around the downed woman.  Octavia’s companion gave her a careful look before moving over to help Octavia back up.

“Every rose has her thorns.” Clarke quipped as she cautiously put some more distance between her and the duo. 

Octavia shook off her companion’s hands and pushed herself back up onto her feet. “So fighting dirty is the best you can manage?”

Clarke could tell that the other woman was trying to bait her.  “Only a fool fights fair.”

Octavia advanced towards with a cocky spring to her step. “So you’re calling me a fool.”

“I’ll let the facts speak for themselves.” Clarke replied warily as she sank into a fighting stance.  

Quickly surveying her surroundings Clarke noticed an open doorway to her left.  Feinting towards Octavia she quickly ducked through the door, slamming it behind her.  Running through the house she burst out the other side into a busier thoroughfare.  Clarke already knew that Octavia had the key advantage of tracking her own her home turf.  Pulling her scarf back over her head Clarke jogged down the road away from the centre of Tondisi.  She didn’t look around her to see if Octavia was following her as that was one of the surest ways to attract attention.  After a few more twists and turns through the streets Clarke felt confident enough to glance back over her shoulder to confirm that she wasn’t being followed.  While she was no longer being followed she had managed to lose her bearings.

“Entertaining.”

Clarke whipped back around to find herself face to face with Lexa.  “How long have you been following me?”

“Since the stables.”

Clarke frowned at her. “And you let me go?”

“As I said before, it was entertaining.” Lexa replied in a complete deadpan. “So have you determined how the remaining members of the 100 are going to help us make peace with the Skaikru or were you too busy showing off?”

“No, I …” Clarke trailed off and hung her head. “I suppose I let my emotions get the better of me.”

“Hold that thought.”

Clarke felt a hand on her shoulder and moments later she was sprawled on the ground as Octavia loomed over her.

“Only a fool lets her guard down in a strange city.” Octavia gloated.

“Touché.” Clarke groaned as she started to lever herself up.  The air whoofed out of her lungs as Octavia shoved her back down onto the ground with her boot.

“Ah, ah, ah.  I didn’t say you could get up.”

“A little help please.” Clarke hissed as she looked over at Lexa.

“Your girlfriend isn’t going to help you Princess.”

“Octavia you may want to let her up.” Lincoln intoned from behind her.

“And why is that?”

“Because she’s talking to the Heda.”

Octavia glanced over to Lexa and then down at Clarke before returning her gaze to Lexa.  She abruptly removed her heel from Clarke’s chest and stumbled back.  Clarke would almost have been amused if she hadn’t been busier getting her breath back.

“Thank you Linkon.” Lexa said managing to look effortlessly regal despite the circumstances. “Your friend and I have not been introduced.”

“She is my second Heda – Octavia formerly of the Skairu.”

“Heda, please accept my apologies for my behaviour.” Octavia added bowing her head in Lexa’s direction.

“Your alertness does you credit, Octavia kom Trikru.  Your apology is accepted.”

Clarke had finished dusting herself off and wanted nothing more than to sink into the woodwork of the nearby house but Lexa was having none of that.

“Clarke, I believe that you were wanting to have a civil conversation with the members of the 100.  Perhaps Octavia and Linkon should join us for the evening meal?”

Clarke could almost swear that Lexa was doing this deliberately but her face betrayed nothing of her emotions. “Of course, Heda.”

Lexa turned her attention back to Octavia and Lincoln. “We will see you at the evening meal then.  In the meantime, you may return to your duties.”

Octavia and Lincoln wasted no time in nodding to Lexa and disappearing back the way that they had come.

“Most entertaining.”

“And I thought that word didn’t fit in the Trikru dictionary.”

“Your attempts to distract from your bruised ego are noted Clarke.” Lexa replied calmly as she set off down the road.  Clarke hurried to catch up with her.  As Clarke fell into step with Lexa a comfortable silence descended on the two of them.  Clarke could feel the tension from her scrap with Octavia evaporating.  Their quiet moment was interrupted by the dark skinned general from Clarke’s tribunal joining them.

“Heda, the preparations for the evening meal have been completed.  Did you want me to assemble the Skaikru after you finish your meal?”  Indra asked.

“No Indra, that won’t be necessary.  Ask Linkon and Octavia to join us for the meal.”

Indra left them just as they entered the main city square.  A coterie of Lexa’s guards had set themselves up around the entrance to an ancient subway station.  Clarke frowned not only at the station but also what her role now was.  Should she continue following Lexa?  For that matter did Lexa even want her around?

Lexa turned back to look at Clarke with an expression bordering on quizzical. “Clarke?”

“Did you want me to join you for the meal?  I mean I know you’re busy.” Clarke stumbled over her words.

_Smooth Griffin, smooth.  Acting like a lovesick teenager with one of the most powerful women on the ground._

“I expect you to join me for the meal Clarke.  I don’t know how the Tseekru operates but you’re on duty until I dismiss you.” Lexa replied briskly.  If Clarke hadn’t known better she could have almost guessed there was a slight twinkle in Lexa’s eye.

“Yes Heda.” Clarke responded with a deferential dip of her head.

The station platform had been transformed into a rather impressive dining hall with a single great table occupying much of the space.  Several clusters of wariors were gathered around the fringes of the room talking boisterously with one another.  The conversations died down as Lexa made her way to the table.  Her soldiers seemed to know their places by instinct and gathered around the table.  Indra took the left hand seat to Lexa while another of Lexa’s generals took the right hand space.  Clarke was left with a place in the middle of the table between two warriors.

The Trikru didn’t stand on formality and as soon as Lexa had taken her seat the others around the table seized upon the various dishes with a ravenous hunger.  Their voracity reminded Clarke of a pack of wolves but also of her own gnawing hunger.  It would be a challenge to secure food amongst a pack of warriors like Lexa’s and politely waiting wasn’t going to earn her any respect.  Taking a page from her fellow diners she dived into the fray and managed to emerge with a chicken leg and a plate full of something that looked like roasted potatoes. 

As she chewed, pensively, on her chicken leg she caught Lexa gazing down the table with  enigmatic look.  As she struggled to interpret the look someone slapped her on the back hard.  Clarke turned to confront her assailant only to be confronted with Octavia’s grinning visage. 

“How are you doing princess?”

Clarke could feel her lip curling in anger before she was able to school her expression back to a neutral mask.  She loathed being called that.

“What’s wrong?  Panther got your tongue?”

“Nothing’s wrong Octavia.”

“Oh good.  I’d hate to think there were any hard feelings from our evening’s ‘exercise’”

Clearly there were still some hard feelings.  It seemed to Clarke that Octavia had something to prove.  Either she resented Clarke for being a part of the Ark’s ruling class or for being alive or even for being cozy with Heda.  Whatever the reason Octavia looked like she needed some sort of closure and Clarke was going to have to furnish her with that.

“No hard feelings on my end.  What did you want Octavia?”

“To share a drink.” Octavia said with a smirk as she shoved a shot glass at Clarke before producing a bottle and filling Clarke’s glass before filling her own. “And to get some answers.”

“Answers?”

“Down the hatch.” Octavia downed her glass and motioned for Clarke to do the same.  Clarke took one whiff of the potent clear spirit before gritting her teeth and downing the potent mixture.  The taste was repulsive.

“If I have to sing for my supper then I think it’s only fair that you do the same.”

“I don’t think it’s exactly fair.”

“Oh come on.  I’d think that life as Heda’s bed warmer would be quite exciting.” Octavia answered nonchalantly as she refilled their glasses. “I’m sure you’ve got plenty of tales to tell.”

“I’m not a whore.”

“Which explains why you’re always staring at the Heda with those big doe eyes.”

“I am not!”

“You still haven’t denied what I’ve said.”  Octavia took another shot of the infernal liquid and motioned for Clarke to do the same.  As Clarke put the glass down half full Octavia waggled her finger reprovingly. “Must finish it all otherwise I’ll find someone else to drink with.”

“Maybe that’s a good idea.  I don’t know why you would bother spending time with a whore anyway.”

“I’m hurt Clarke.  I just want to see if you’re worth all the commotion you’ve caused.”

Clarke felt the familiar sensation of rage clawing its way up her throat.

“You wanted a story Octavia how’s this?  There once was a little girl who fell from the sky.  Why she fell no one could say except those who sat in judgement of her.  Their own dark secrets they sought to protect.  The girl fell to the ground with her compatriots – allies by circumstance and nothing more.  Even they were plucked away by the hand of fate leaving the girl to the not so tender mercies of the ground.  Eventually she fell in with a tribe from the South who taught her what she needed to know to survive.  She returned to the wilderness as the eyes of her adopted tribe.  Every day she learned a little more about the ground sometimes there was beauty and sometimes there was despair.  Each day the ground changed her a little more until it became acceptable to massacre the wicked without remorse in order to save the innocent.  Of course, fate being a capricious mistress decided to take the innocent along with the wicked and leave the perpetrator to live with her actions.  In the end the random hand of fate washed our heroine up here to be mocked by her one time compatriots who knew nothing of her past and were content to believe their suffering was greater and entitled them to judge her.”

Octavia seemed momentarily taken aback by Clarke’s impromptu fairy tale.

“Is that what you were expecting Octavia?  Maybe next time you’ll think before assuming that you’re the only one to have suffered.  Although from where I’m sitting you look like you’ve had it pretty good.  Accepted by the tribe, handsome boyfriend, no missing limbs or disfiguring scares and no lingering demons.”

“That’s all a fine story Clarke but that’s all it is – a story.”

“If you need some evidence then ask one of your friends what happened at Grey Harbour.”  Clarke pulled a small necklace out of her shirt and threw it on the table in front of Octavia.  “Then ask them where that came from.”

The scrimshaw pendant sat there, its silver fastenings glinting in the candlelight.

“They’ll probably tell you that the necklace is a young woman’s coming of age gift and that they aren’t traded to anyone.”  Clarke rose from the table her appetite gone.  As she moved she turned back to the still befuddled Octavia. “I’m going to want that back when you’re done indulging your curiosity.”


	9. Uneasy Lies the Head

Clarke’s heated exchange with Octavia had not gone unnoticed by Lexa nor had her abrupt departure from the dining hall.  Ever since Clarke had met the other Skai girl she had seemed to be constantly butting heads with her sometimes even literally.  If Lexa had been forced to provide an explanation she would have chalked it up to nagging guilt on Clarke’s part for having unwittingly abandoned her people.  This seemed to cause her to overcompensate whenever someone challenged her which Octavia seemed to delight in doing.  Of Octavia Lexa knew very little besides the fact that she was an aspiring warrior and that she seemed to be connected at the hip to Tondisi’s healer, Lincoln.  The friction between the two of them did not augur well for Lexa’s grand design of making peace with the Skaikru at Arkadia.  If Clarke wasn’t able to get her own peer group to cooperate with her then what chance would she have with the conservative leadership of Arkadia?  Despite this Lexa was prepared to be patient, after all it was Clarke’s first day and her emotions where probably running high.

The dinner gradually began to breakup and with no sign of Clarke that left Lexa with Octavia to provide her with answers.  Lexa quietly insinuated herself into a hushed conversation between Indra and Octavia.  Octavia seemed to be in the middle of showing Indra a simple piece of jewelry when something about it caught Lexa’s eye.  As she looked at the inoffensive necklace a feeling that she had believed dead slowly clawed its way up from the ether of her subconscious – loss.  The more she studied the necklace the more familiar it became.  The design was more intricate and the markings more unique than the necklace that she herself wore but the origin of the necklace was unmistakable.

Unconsciously, Lexa reached up to touch her necklace beneath the fabric of her shirt as her mind travelled back to the first time she had seen it.  It had been shortly after she had completed her conclave and emerged the undisputed champion and the new Heda of the Trikru.  As was common at the time the other tribes sent emissaries with treasures from their territories as gifts for the new Heda.  One of those offerings had been a set of jewelry.  Lexa, ever the pragmatist, had seen the jewelry as a pretty indulgence that could be put to better use as gifts for ambassadors and as trade goods.  Costia had not shared Lexa’s assessment and as soon as she had laid eyes on the haul of gifts she had insisted on trying on the jewelry.  Her appreciation of the beauty around her had been one of the things that Lexa had treasured about her.  While some might have viewed Costia as frivolous Lexa had realized that Costia had indulged her appreciation of the beauty of her world deliberately in an effort to remind Lexa that there was more to life than just surviving. 

The moment that Costia’s eyes fell upon the necklace was the moment that it became hers.  She had admired the craftsmanship that had gone into the necklace and requested an explanation of the meaning of the designs on the necklace – an explanation that Lexa had been unable to provide.  As a result poor Lexa had been forced to track down the Floudonkru ambassador the next morning and get some answers.  What Lexa had found out had been interesting even to her.  Apparently the necklaces were given to young women as a coming of age gift.  When they found their intended they passed the necklace to them as a way of being with them even when they were not.  The ambassador had noted that the necklace that they had given her was a fine piece of work but that it was incomplete.  Usually the necklace was carved by someone who knew the intended recipient making it a more personal gift.  Her necklace was more a recognition of the deeds of the Heda.  To say that Lexa was a bit put out was an understatement.  Seeing her disappointment, the ambassador had offered to send one of the artisans to Polis to craft a more personalized necklace for her.

When Costia had been informed of the backstory she had been thrilled by it.  Costia’s own artistic efforts tended more the sculpting of wood and so working with scrimshaw in so similar a way captivated her curiosity.  Unfortunately for them it was just a few short months later that instead of an artisan from Grey Harbour the ambassador had returned with grave news of a horrifying massacre.  The community that had produced the necklace had been wiped from the face of the earth in a fiery crucible leaving only the charred ashes of its occupants.  The ambassador confided that he suspected that the community had made a pact with Wanheda – the spirit that held power over life and death – to rid them of a group of Azgeda raiders that plagued them on a regular basis.  Needless to say Wanheda had demanded a payment of blood for blood. 

Lexa had trouble believing the supernatural elements of the story but when the Ambassador told of the discovery of an Azgeda raiding camp near the remains of Grey Harbour with a single survivor Lexa’s doubts were stilled.  The ambassador went on to say that the survivor had confessed to the raiders being sent by the Queen of the Azgeda, Nia, and that they were to raid up and down the coast line for supplies and treasure.  The ambassador also recounted the survivor’s tale of their demise.  The raiders had sent scouting parties to the village which had all disappeared to a man.  This had excited their curiousity and ire and so they had travelled to the village.  The village chief claimed to possess the power of Wanheda and that if they were attacked then both the attackers and defenders would be swallowed up by its terrible power.  The leader of the raiders had pretended to be frightened and they had retreated.  The leader then sent a force of raiders back to the village to burn it to the ground as a demonstration of their strength and ruthlessness.

The village had burned but the raiders and villagers had burned together just as the chief had promised.  Then the remaining raiders started to disappear one at a time – swallowed up by the night.  In the end, there had been ten raiders left.  One evening an unearthly fire had struck their camp.  From the soot and ash Wanheda had emerged to take the rest of the raiders.  Wanheda had apparently left the last man in order to tell of her terrible power. 

Needless to say, this survivor had succumbed to his injuries shortly after telling the tale.  Lexa was skeptical but in the midst of the mystical mumbo jumbo Lexa had realized that the Azgeda posed a serious threat to all the local tribes.  The only way to contain it would be to form a Coalition and so inadvertently she had been put on a collision course with the Azgeda.  It was a course that would claim Costia’s life in the process and it all, ironically enough, began with a necklace.  Lexa couldn’t help but see the appearance of another pendant as being the harbinger of dark times especially one that had clawed its way out of a funeral pyre.

“Where did you get that from?” Lexa growled.  Her memories subsiding.

“Heda!” Octavia exclaimed with a start as she only just noticed Lexa’s presence. “From Clarke, Heda.”

“You know it Heda?” Indra asked carefully.

“I know of it Indra.” Lexa replied equally carefully, not wanting to betray her feelings to Octavia or Indra. “It is the relic of a destroyed people.”

Octavia’s expression seemed to sink in to a cross between having tasted something sour and worried confusion.  Indra on the other hand was not so afflicted.

“How then did Clarke come to have this?”  Indra prodded.

“That is a question that I will have to ask her.” Lexa turned her attention to Octavia. “Give me the pendant Octavia.”

As soon as Octavia passed her the pendant she swept by the two warriors in a single fluid motion.  As she ascended the steps from the dining hall she considered the pendant in her hand.  She had half expected the pendant to be warm from the fires of its birthplace but she quickly dismissed that as a silly notion.  The pendant may have been an inert lump of dentine but it still managed harbour a set of troubling implications behind its inoffensive exterior.

It didn’t take her much effort to actually find Clarke – the other woman was quietly perched by one of the guard towers at the edge of the town staring up at the sky above her.  Despite Lexa’s catlike grace Clarke seemed to detect her presence and turned to confront her.

“Lexa.”

“Clarke.”

The other woman considered her with those inquisitive blue eyes.  As Lexa matched her gaze she noticed something that she hadn’t seen in Octavia’s eyes or the eyes of any of the other Skaikru in Tondisi – a hardness born of hard choices.  Lexa held out her hand with the pendant.

“I believe that this belongs to you.” As Clarke moved to take it Lexa hesitated for a moment causing Clarke to pause mid-movement. “This little item has a lot of questions swirling around it.”

Clarke completed her motion, snatching up the pendant and returning it to its rightful place around her neck. “I expected as much.  I can’t promise I’ll answer all of them.”

Lexa felt herself bristle at Clarke’s defiance but she schooled her emotions back to impassivity. “You were at Grey Harbour when it was destroyed?”

“Yes.”

“You destroyed it?”

“In a manner of speaking.”

Lexa was momentarily taken aback by Clarke’s willingness to admit to mass murder.  The other woman held her chin at a defiant angle as though daring Lexa to judge her but beneath that defiance there was something else. 

“How did you come to have the power to destroy an entire village Clarke?  I have trouble believing that you would be capable of such an act.”

“Have you ever heard of a fuel air bomb?” At Lexa’s shake of the head Clarke proceeded to explain. “It’s a weapon from the old world, a weaker version of a nuclear weapon without the radioactive contamination.  Grey Harbour was built on an ancient armoury.  Several of the weapons were still active.”

“That only answers how they were wiped out Clarke, it doesn’t answer why.”

Clarke let out a short harsh laugh. “You know the saying about the road to hell?  Well my path was paved with good intentions.  I arrived at Grey Harbour to offer the inhabitants a trade agreement – the Tseekru would provide them with resources in exchange for being allowed to use the harbour and constructing a warehouse for storing supplies.  I was left on my own there to conclude the agreement and find my own way home or to make a rendezvous with a passing ship. 

The inhabitants were a sullen beaten down lot.  It didn’t take me long to figure out why when the Azgeda showed up.  It was sheer bad luck that I had stumbled over the remains of the munitions stockpile.  I had been given an easy solution to the problem of the Azgeda, a strategy the old world called MAD.”

“MAD?”

“Mutually assured destruction and I was mad to even consider it but my blood was up and it overrode all consideration of possible consequences.  The villagers were just as fed up with the status quo with the Azgeda and they were willing to try anything including mass suicide.  If the Azgeda tried to raid them again they would be able to threaten the complete annihilation of the village and the raiders.”

“And the Azgeda weren’t ones to back down from an easy mark.” Lexa supplied.

“No they weren’t.  When they showed up the Chief was able to negotiate and provide a demonstration of one of the weapons.

When the Azgeda left we thought we had won.  We celebrated.”  Clarke’s breath hitched at the point but she mustered the strength to continue on. “They agreed to trade with the Tseekru and I got ready to catch the next passing ship.  It was as I was sailing out to my rendezvous that it happened.  It was like a second sun had decided to rise that day and then there was the blast of heat that followed it.  When I got back ... there were only ashes”

“But that wasn’t all there was to the story.”

“No.  Some of the Azgeda had survived.  They had only sent half their force back to the village.  At the time it seemed so simple.  They had caused the end of the village so they needed to pay for it.  Binary logic.  I suppose I was in denial, still am I guess.”

“So you killed them?”

“No Lexa, I executed them.  There’s a difference.  They were mostly scum and they had committed heinous crimes.  Jus drein jus draun.”

Lexa paused and took stock of the other woman.  Clarke seemed to be barely holding herself together - balanced on a precipice between folding in on herself and lashing out.  Something about the whole experience had made it personal for Clarke.  It was as though the story was missing a crucial detail.  Lexa was torn between reaching out to comfort the other woman and pushing further.  Instead she let the silence drag on for several more moments.  As the moments passed Lexa could almost see Clarke reassembling herself until she was confronted with an uncanny reflection of her own impassive mask.  Whatever moment there had been passed.

“What now Heda?”

Before Lexa could answer a scream cut through the night.

‘Rippas!’


	10. Forgotten Horrors

The prospect of facing Reapers was enough to chill the blood of even the most seasoned warrior but without her customary weapons and the advantage of picking her ground Clarke was left more than chilled.  As far as she knew the Reapers had never been audacious enough to tackle a target as well defended as a major Trikru town.  They had behaved more like opportunistic predators – preying on the weak or the isolated before moving on.

Lexa was off like a shot towards the thick of the fighting and Clarke was hard pressed to follow her through the winding chaos of the streets.  As they ran towards the source of the cry flames began to shoot into the night sky as the buildings near the fight caught fire.  Doubtless the Reapers were trying to create as much chaos as possible.

_What could they possibly want?_ Clarke wondered, _There has always been method to their madness in the past._

As they emerged from a nearby alley the melee came into view before them, cast in the blood red light of the nearby fires.  There must have been over three dozen Reapers present making mincemeat out of the Trikru defenders.  While the Trikru were fierce warriors they lacked tactical discipline without their leaders.  Most of the defenders arrived at the melee alone or in small groups making them easy prey for already ensconced invaders.  Clarke wasn’t a master strategist by any means but even to her retreating and regrouping to bring the full weight of the Trikru’s superior numbers to bear on the Reapers was the best strategy.  Lexa was having none of that and drew her sword as she unleashed a fearsome battle cry. 

As Clarke was about to yell at Lexa that they needed to retreat a loud thump echoed from behind her.  As she turned to face the sound she was confronted with an approaching Reaper that had jumped out of the window of one of the burning buildings.  His animalistic maw opened and snapped shut several times as he sized her up.  A cursory glance around her indicated that there were no convenient weapons lying around so Clarke did the next best thing – she ran for the nearest burning building.  It was a suicidal plan but the smoke and flame would give her an advantage over the Reaper pursuing her.

As she plunged through the open door the heat struck her like a physical wall followed swiftly by the smoke.  The fire roared like a living thing as she hurried through the building.  A loud smash and a guttural cry from behind her announced the arrival of her Reaper.  She quickly found a set of stairs and ascended up onto the roof of the building. 

The cool air of the roof was a welcome relief.  Smoke poured from the cracks between the boards of the building but fortunately the thick walls we made from stone and Clarke was able to nimbly jump up onto one of the walls and scamper to the other side of the building from the stairwell.  The Reaper burst out of the stairwell howling in pain and burning brightly like a living torch.   Locking eyes with her he plunged towards her heedless of the flames engulfing him.  Left with no alternative Clarke turned away from the blazing figure and leapt to the next nearest building – a stubby watchtower like structure that was below her.

She landed with a jarring thump against the hard-wooden boards of the watchtower.  Clarke let out a groan as rose back to her feet.  On the other building the reaper tumbled off the side of the building and hit the ground with a meaty splat.  With one crisis averted Clarke set her sights on reacquiring Lexa.  Surveying the melee below her she was hard pressed to tell the Reapers from the Trikru in the smoke and confusion.  After a few moments of fruitless searching Clarke realized that the only way she was going to accomplish anything is if she found a weapon or several and waded into the melee to find Lexa.  At the end of the day her survival hinged on either escaping or keeping Lexa alive. 

Glancing around the watchtower she was pleased to find an unused short bow and a full quiver of arrows propped against the parapet.  Clarke would characterize herself as competent with a bow on a good day – her accuracy in the middle of Reaper attack was anyone’s guess.  Accompanying the bow was a rusty machete of type generally favoured by the Trikru warriors of the region.  Slinging the quiver across her back Clarke managed to wedge the blade into the binding in an improvised sheathe.  Turning her attention back to the battle below her Clarke took aim at the nearest Reaper.  If she couldn’t find Lexa then the least she could do was thin the number of Reapers below her.  Picking out her target she drew the bow taught, lined up her target and loosed her first arrow.  Notching her next arrow she noticed, with a not inconsiderable amount of shock, that she had actually hit her target.  The Reapers were not oblivious to her success either and a group of three of them broke off from the melee and sprinted towards the watchtower. 

After loosing three more fruitless shots at the advancing Reapers Clarke realized that her first shot had been beginner’s luck and slung the bow before surveying her options.  With the Reapers storming in through the watch tower Clarke had no choice but to clamber over the parapet and mantle down the side of the building - no easy task in the middle of a battle.  Midway down her footing slipped and she tumbled down to the hard earth below.  Dusting herself off she couldn’t help but notice the twinge her in left foot as she rose to her feet.  She counted herself lucky to have survived the drop with only a sore foot and a couple of bruises. 

A soft whispering sound halfway between a hiss and whistle echoed from behind her.  The sound tapered off into a series clicks.  A couple of moments later the sound repeated itself too precisely to be a mere coincidence.  Clarke turned to examine the alley that she had landed in.  The sound had emanated from one smoke choked end of the alley but it was impossible to make out anything in the gloom.  The sound came again only this time it was punctuated by the impact of a metallic footfall.  The soft clink of metal on stone echoed up the alleyway to Clarke.  The sounds were not like the rattling jingle of metal that typically accompanied the motley collections of metal and leather that the Trikru called armor but instead sounded precise and measured like a mixture of hydraulics and smoothly oiled interlocking plates. 

Fear clawed its way up Clarke’s throat.  Whatever horror was lurking in the smoke was not a Reaper.  She couldn’t help the feeling that somewhere inside that fog some malign intelligence was watching her - toying with her.  It was only a matter of time before it decided to emerge from the fog and no matter how curious Clarke was she had no desire to see what sort of thing combined armor, hydraulics, and a predatory drive.  Clarke turned and sprinted down the alley the opposite direction as fast as her legs would take her.  She could dimly hear the steady cadence of quick metallic footfalls over her own racing heartbeat.

Plunging out of the alley Clarke emerged back into the square that had been the site of the pitched battle between the Reapers and the Trikru.  Glancing around Clarke quickly realized that the battle was now over and the only things still moving around on two legs were Reapers.  Drawing her blade Clarke spared a glance over her shoulder and instantly regretted her decision.  Deep within the fog a pair of round glowing green orbs regarded her.  At that moment, Clarke’s nerve shattered.  The Reapers were ruthless, deadly and quite disgusting but at the end of the day they were still somewhat human.  The thing in the fog was some unknown horror that defied rational explanations.  Clarke plunged towards the Reapers in a desperate attempt to put as much distance between her and the creature in the fog.  As she ran a small canister shot by her and landed with a dull pop.  Pale smoke billowed out of the canister quickly beginning the process of shrouding the area in fog.

As Clarke continued to run towards the other end of the square she sighted the breach in the wall surrounding the town that the Reapers had been pouring through.  Somewhere behind her there was a scream that ended in a wet gurgle.  Her mind made up she ran towards the breach in the wall.  As she scrabbled up the rubble she stumbled and fell face first into the rubble.  Rolling over she took in the scene behind her.  The smoke wafted around thickly but the size of the square did not make it as oppressively thick as it had been in the alley.  Through it all she could make out a pair of Reapers casting about for their target in the haze.  Suddenly one seemed to sprout a long black blade out of its back.  Somewhere behind the twitching form of the Reaper something dark seemed to ooze out of the fog gradually becoming more and more corporeal.  The green orbs emerged over the dying Reaper’s shoulder and stared straight at Clarke once more.  This time she could make out the armored face mask that made up the rest of the horror’s face.  The green orbs were set into an elongated mask similar to pictures she had seen of early radiation suits.  The mask tapered off into a long tube that ran down into the horror’s armor.  The moment was shattered as the other Reaper let out a loud cry at the death of his fellow and swung his axe at the horror.  The axe shattered on contact and rather than eliciting some sort of frenzy of activity the mask turned slowly, almost languorously, towards its new target.  Clarke watched transfixed as a single hand rose up and seemed to wrap itself around the Reaper’s face like some sort of bizarre sea creature.  The horror seemed completely unmoved by the Reaper raining down a hail of blows on its armored hide as it lifted it into the air. After a few moments, the Reaper’s struggles tapered off and it went limp in the horror’s hand.  With a casual gesture the dead body was dropped.

Clarke had seen all that she needed to and she picked herself up and sprinted over the rubble to the open woods.  She stood a far better chance of losing the horror in the woods than in the town.  Stumbling down the other side of the rubble pile Clarke almost ran straight into Lexa.  The other woman was breathing hard as she stood over the corpse of a dead Reaper.  Hearing Clarke coming down the rubble pile she spun to confront her.

“Clarke?”

“RUN!” Clarke practically screamed as she grabbed Lexa’s arm and bodily dragged her towards the woods.

As they made the tree line Lexa wrenched her arm free of Clarke’s grip. “Clarke, what in the name of the spirits are you doing?”

Clarke glanced back the way they had come the wisps of fog were slowly crawling up over the rubble pile seemingly in defiance of the laws of gravity and the prevailing winds.  “Lexa there is something back there.  Something … I don’t know what.”

Lexa’s eyes narrowed. “Something?  You aren’t making sense.”

“Sense?” Clarke snarled back at the other woman. “I’ve seen more than my fair share of horrors in the wastes, probably more than you have, and this thing looks nothing like any of them.”

“You should choose your next words carefully Clarke.”

Clarke was about to open her mouth to respond when Lexa’s expression froze and the blood slowly drained from her face.  Clarke turned back once again only to be confronted by the horror crounched broodingly on the rubble pile.  It was the first clear look Clarke had gotten at the creature.  The creature was clad in a midnight black armored shell composed of layers of lamellar plates.  The plates themselves seemed to shift like they had a mind of their own giving the armor the appearance of constantly being in motion.  The horror seemed more concerned with examining one of its armored hands as a set of long black blades extended from the tips of its fingers and then slowly withdrew.  Clarke couldn’t make up her mind if the creature reminded her more of cat cleaning its claws or of soldier breaking down his weapon to clean it after combat.  Regardless of the analogy the horror completed its cleaning routine and then rose from its brooding position to stand full erect before surveying the area. 

“Homarippa.” Lexa breathed.

“What?” Clarke whispered.

“An undying spirit from the old world.” Lexa explained quietly never taking her eyes of the horror. “They are implacable hunters.  To be hunted by one is a death sentence.”

“What are we going to do?”

Lexa didn’t answer her but merely grabbed her hand and gave it a quick squeeze before pulling her after her deeper into the treeline. 

As Clarke did her best to follow Lexa’s lead she was amazed at how adroit the other woman was at navigating the pitch black woods.  While Clarke was no slouch at woodcraft, she couldn’t hold a candle to the other woman.  Despite Lexa’s impressive skills every time they stopped the telltale whispering clicks of the Homarippa would manifest themselves moments after they stopped moving. 

As the night wore on Clarke could feel herself rapidly fading and could see that Lexa was in similarly bad shape.  Both of them had been embroiled in combat after a long day of travelling and the only thing that had seen them through that had been pure adrenaline.  Now even the adrenaline had left their systems the only thing propelling them forward was the fear of what was behind them. 

Lexa drew Clarke to a halt once more in a small glade illuminated by moonlight.  While on any other night it would have been pretty verging on romantic the only thing Clarke could think about was when the ordeal was going to end. 

“Do you think we’ve lost it?” Clarke panted.

Lexa took a deep breath before responding. “No.  It’s been toying with us this whole time.  Driving us towards something.”

“Oh great!” Clarke moaned. “So it’s been herding us to whatever is home for it so that it doesn’t have the hassle of carrying our corpses with it?”

“A reasonable assumption.”

“And how are you so calm in the face of certain death?” Clarke snapped in irritation.

“Death is inevitable.  Railing against it is pointless.”

“Yeah well, forgive me for not being quite ready to die yet.”

Lexa gave Clarke a soft smile.  “You remind me of someone that I once knew.”

“Oh no, we’re not going all mushy in the face of certain death.”

Lexa never got the chance to respond as a crimson flare came shooting out of the underbrush casting the entire glade in blood red light.  With a sudden thud the Homarippa dropped down between them, clearly having been lurking in the trees above them.  With a single backhanded swipe, it sent Lexa reeling backwards clutching her nose before turning its full attention on Clarke.  For a moment Clarke thought she could see her own terrified face reflected back at her in the mirrorlike black depths of the horror’s armour. With a casual ease it seized her by the throat and lifted her off the ground before she even had a chance to go for her weapon.

As the Horror slowly closed off her airways a distant part of Clarke’s mind not concerned with frantically scrabbling at the armoured digits wrapped around her throat noted the great finesse that the horror was exerting not to simply crush her airways or simply decapitate her.  As black spots danced across her vision Clarke noticed a faint flash of movement in her peripheral vision before her entire vision went red.

A moment later she hit the ground with a bone jarring thump as she desperately tried to suck in some much-needed oxygen.  Glancing dimly upwards she caught a glimpse of Lexa ducking under a blind swing from the Horror as it tried to clean the burning remains of the flare off its faceplate.  A moment latter Lexa’s arms were around Clarke hauling her to her feet and shoving her forward.  A keening scream of rage shot through the woods as they stumbled away from the enraged Horror behind them. 

They almost missed the shear drop that yawned up in front of them as the fled the glade.  One moment they were on solid ground and the next Clarke’s boot was sliding off into nothingness.  Lexa yanked her back at the last moment.  From behind them there was a loud crash as the Horror drove through the underbrush – all pretext of stealth gone. 

Lexa gave Clarke a last sad look before drawing her sword to confront the oncoming horror.  It emerged from the underbrush and with a swipe of its hand sent Lexa’s sword spinning off into the night.  In the same motion, it rammed its arm into Lexa’s midriff sending her flying back straight into Clarke.

For one moment Clarke had the nauseating feeling of the ground disappearing beneath her before she was falling backwards.  The only sound she could hear was her laboured heartbeat and the howl of the wind.  After what felt like an eternity but was probably only a few seconds she felt a solid stringy object cut across her back before snapping under the force of her descent.  That impact was followed by another and then several more until she came to an abrupt halt – tangled up in some sort of web-like mass of tendrils.  As she blinked groggily she looked up to see a black shape blotting out the sky above her.  Her bleary eyes focused on the long cluster of braids that seemed to whip out behind the falling figure before she realized that Lexa was following almost the same trajectory.

_Oh shit._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I remember that this one was an absolute treat to write.  
> Homarippa is a word that I made up out of the trig words for Hunter and Killer. Yes, it's a reference to both the Terminator and everyone's favourite homicidal assassin droid from KOTOR. The Homarippa's mask is one of the old snork looking ones that the Soviets used because that's completely not scary.   
> So did the introductory sequence for the Homarippa raise any hairs on the back of your neck?


	11. Angels Lost

Lexa’s first sensation as she swam up through the murky layers of her unconsciousness was of something very warm and inviting pressed close closed to her.  Almost unconsciously her lips quirked into a soft smile and she struggled to snuggle in closer to the warmth nestled up against her.  Her movements came to an abrupt halt as both her arms seemed to ignite in a nova of pain.  A soft cry escaped her lips as her eyes shot open.

Lexa found her face nestled into the woolen jacket over someone’s shoulder.  Beyond that the only thing she could make out were a series of dark branches beneath them.  Moving her head ever so slightly to the side she found herself confronted with the side of Clarke’s face.  Further attempts to turn her head led to the same ripping sensation that she had felt when she had attempted to move her arms.  At the prospect of this enforced immobility Lexa had to fight down a wave of nausea and animal instinct to flee.

Taking a few calming breathes she turned her attention back to assessing her situation.  As far as she could make out she was cocooned almost face to face with Clarke.  Whatever was cocooning her seemed to have sunk itself under her skin making escape a difficult proposition.  Judging from her limited vantage point their captor seemed to be some sort of plant.  While carnivorous plants were not unheard of even before the bombs had fallen the radiation had given them a new-found taste for human flesh and the means to realize their desires.  Despite their evolution Lexa had never heard tell of a carnivorous plant that actually went to the trouble of integrated its prey directly into its circulatory system.  The implications were, to say the least, disturbing. 

Lexa’s musings were abruptly cut off by a flurry of movement from her partner followed by a short sharp hiss of pain. 

“What the hell?”  Clarke groaned as she twisted her head to look at Lexa.

“I take it that you can’t move?”

“No.” Clarke snapped in frustration as another bout of squirming on her part came to an end.

“Then it looks like we’re stuck here.” Lexa sighed, doing the best she could to fight down her anxiety.  Lexa had never done well with forced confinement and fortunately she had never been put in a situation where she had to develop a familiarity with it.

“And where is here?”

“As far as I can tell we’re in some sort of root system, although you have a better view than I do.”

Lexa felt Clarke shift again though it was a bit slower and more cautious than her previous bouts. “All I can see are two cliff walls and the sky.”

While Clarke had been turning her head to look upwards at the sky Lexa had been afforded an alarming look at the back of Clarke’s neck or, more accurately the mass of fine roots that had sunk themselves directly into the other woman’s flesh.

“Clarke, I’m going to turn my head away from you a bit and I want you to take a look at my neck.”

“Why?”

“Just … humour me.”  Lexa bit out as she turned her head very cautiously until the tug at the back of her neck became pronounced.  The sharp intake of breath from Clarke told her everything she needed to know.

“Lexa, I don’t want you to panic …”

“But I have a bunch of roots stuck into my skin.”

“How did you?”

“You’ve got them too.”  Lexa could hear Clarke’s breathing pickup and could almost feel her pulse rate accelerating. “Clarke?”

“Did I ever mention that I’m not particularly fond of confined spaces?”

“You grew up in space.  Isn’t that just one big confined space?”

“It was worse than that, at the end when I was in prison.  Every night they would cut off the lights and every night I would wonder if they were going to cut off the air too.  Nowhere to run to and nothing to do but to wait to die.”

Lexa could tell that Clarke was slowly building up to a panic attack and if she wasn’t careful she could easily get carried along with her.  “Clarke look at me.”

Clarke turned her head back towards Lexa until they managed to make partial eye contact.

“We’re okay for now Clarke.” Lexa soothed. “Whatever this plant is doing killing us quickly isn’t on it’s agenda.  We just have to wait here to be rescued.”

“You’re lying.” Clarke whispered back. “I know you don’t really believe that.  You’re just saying that to keep me calm and that’s quite sweet.”

Lexa could feel her jaw working in surprise. “How did you know that Clarke?”

“I could feel it like  …. like it was a part of me.”  Clarke’s brow was furrowed in confusion. “It’s like I was thinking it but you were saying it.”

Somehow the prospect of Clarke knowing what she was thinking before she even said it was worse than being trapped in the embrace of the plant.  Lexa had gone for so long without telling anyone what she was feeling that the prospect of sharing anything so intimate was terrifying.  Thinking about it brought back flashes of the last person she had shared that with.

_Costia_

“She’s pretty.” Clarke remarked dreamily.

“Who?”

“Costia.”

Lexa almost literally convulsed at the strangeness of the situation.  Her thoughts had somehow found their way into Clarke’s mind along with the context for the other woman to understand them.  Rather than just seeing the image of a pretty young woman Clarke had known her name.

_I can’t do this.  I need to get out of here._

Suddenly it wasn’t Clarke who was panicking it was Lexa.

“Lexa, you can’t go anywhere and you know it.” Clarke murmured.

“I’m not staying here.” Lexa replied frantically as she began to struggle against her bindings.  The agony followed swiftly and it almost felt as though whatever was lurking in her flesh was actively resisting her and pulling back.

“Lexa, you’re hurting me.” Clarke cried out.

Lexa paused for a brief moment and that was all it took for a wash of relief to flood her system.  In that moment she realized why Clarke had suddenly gone from being on the precipice of a panic attack to dreamy bliss.  The plant had drugged Clarke and now it was doing the same to her.

_So that’s it?_

Lexa slowly relaxed in her bindings as the sedatives coursed through her system dulling her burning nerve endings.  Soon the anxiety of being trapped or of sharing her memories with Clarke didn’t seem quite so bad.

“Better.” Clarke practically purred. “You know, whatever this stuff is it’s pretty good.”

“I can’t say I’ve ever felt like this before.” Lexa found herself replying.

“I don’t think those root tendrils are actually harvesting anything.”

“No?”

“No, I think this plant is integrating us into its nervous system.”

“Why?”

“No idea.”

For some reason, Lexa suddenly found the abnormally deep black pit of Clarke’s pupil fascinating.  The thin blue iris surrounded that deep well of blackness that seemed poised to swallow her whole.

“My, what pretty green eyes you have.”

***

The memory was frighteningly vivid and while it wasn’t one of Lexa’s she was starting to have trouble finding that demarcation line of where her thoughts were ending and Clarke’s were beginning.

She could smell the fresh scent of the pine needles and feel them crunch underfoot as she travelled through the boreal forest.  The bite of the cold air on her face and the slight moisture in the air made her think that it was early spring just at the end of the thawing season.  She couldn’t help but feel that it was wonderful to be alive on this verdant Earth but some traitorous part kept on reminding her of the cost.  It was twisted in her chest like some sort of parasite constantly reminding her of its presence at the most unwanted times.

Still, she had a mission to complete – secure the port of Gray Harbour as a supply post for the ships of her clan by whatever means necessary.  Not an easy task but one she was determined not to fail.

Lexa took a double take.  This was one of the most tumultuous times in Clarke’s life that she was living through _as Clarke_.  This was a grief that lingered with Clarke and one without an easy solution like discovering that her people were all still alive.  Why was she living through this and where was Clarke?

Her musings were cut short as her borrowed body seemed to continue on its journey like an automaton.  Lexa realized, grimly, that although she was inhabiting Clarke’s body she had no control over what was happening.

She emerged onto a small plateau to survey the little village below her.  An ancient stone breakwater encircled the entrance to the cove providing a safe haven for ships to dock.  A cluster of huts was wound around the apex of the cove which were in turn encircled by a palisade wall.  While Grey Harbour was picturesque it wasn’t the most defensible of positions.

Unsurprisingly she made it all the way to the open gates of the village before anyone bothered to challenge her.

“Hold there outsider.” The single ragamuffin guard remarked casually from his seat by the gate.  “What’s your business here?”

“I’m here to speak to your leader.  I am here on behalf of the Tseekru.” Lexa felt herself reply.

“Never heard of the Tseekru.” The guard replied slowly.

“I want to negotiate with your chief for the right to dock our ships here and store provisions in your village.”

“The harbour isn’t for sale.”

“Look, are you going to let me in or should I be speaking to your neighbours?”

“Never said you can’t come in.  All are welcome here … so long as you can pay.”  The guard sneered avariciously.

Lexa let out an angry sigh as she shouldered her rifle and entered the village.  It seemed that Clarke hadn’t been expecting such a frosty reception from the locals since the prevailing emotion that Clarke was feeling was disappointment. 

Lexa made her way down the main thoroughfare of the town towards the largest building at the town centre.  Shouldering the unguarded door open she step from the bright daylight to the smoky gloom of the interior.  As her eyes adjusted she found herself wondering if she had stumbled into a wake.  Perched gloomily in an ornate carved chair was gaunt looking man staring at her with a bleak interest.

“Another wanderer come to pick away at what’s left of Grey Harbour?  There’s not much left.”

“I’m here to,” Lexa felt herself pause before answering. “Help.”

“Help?” The man scoffed. “A mere slip of a girl.  Does that rifle make you an army?”

“Tell me of your troubles.”

“Azgeda reavers.  Although they would never admit to being at the Azplana’s beck and call their plunder goes to fund her dreams of conquest.  There’s a hundred of them at least.”

“Aren’t you a part of the Kongeda?”

“Lexa’s folly!” The chieftain snarled as he rose from his perch.  He paused before settling back into his chair and depression. “I’m sorry girl but you won’t find any of Lexa’s soldiers here to protect us.”

“Then why don’t you fight?”

“We’re fisherman, farmers and craftsmen.  Our warriors all leave in search of glory with the armies of the Trikru.  The only ones that remain here are the ones that want peace.  If we fight we die.”

“If you resist, the reavers might leave you for easier prey.”

“We’ve tried.  They said that we are an object lesson to the other villages that there is no escape.  Then they executed 10 of our townsfolk at random to prove their point.  Their remains still adorn the point.”

Lexa could feel the hopelessness seeping into her self as though it was a physical thing.

“What’s your name girl?”

“Clarke.”

“Well Clarke, you are welcome for as long as you have something to trade.  If you don’t die then maybe you can tell the story of our last days.  As to the harbour, the only thing left that we have of value, you can have that when we are dust.”

Clearly the audience was at an end so she turned and left the house.  As she sat on the steps outside she considered her options.  Her rendezvous was not for another five days.  She had a few trade goods that she could trade for food and shelter.  What was most galling was the prospect that she would be returning in defeat from her first mission.  She had so wanted to prove herself to the rest of the Outriders and to Mara.

“Stefan tends to forget that this place survived the bombs and it’ll be around long after we’re dead.”

Lexa looked up to see who was talking to her only to find herself looking into a pair of striking green eyes.  The brunette who was looking back at her was tall for a young woman and sported a cheerful freckled face.  She seemed unencumbered by the sadness that seemed to grip the rest of the town.  There was something uncomfortably familiar about her that Lexa couldn’t quite put her finger on.  Something about the way that Clarke reacted when she saw her.

“So there are still optimists out here?” Lexa asked.

“Guilty as charged.  I’m Nyssa.”

“Clarke.”

“So you’ve got something trade?”

“Straight to the point.”

“We don’t really have time for wordplay here.”

“What exactly is it that I’m buying?”

“Place to stay and something to eat, unless you’d rather rough it out here on the council hall steps?”

“Fair enough.  I’ve got a couple of knives, an axe, and some stone sculpting tools.”

“Someone’s done her homework.  Not too many traders bother to bring us tools for plying our art.  Come on, you can show me what you have when we get home.” Nyssa shot her a roguish smile as she extended her hand.

As Lexa took the outstretched hand she realized recognized the thrill that shot through her borrowed body – infatuation.  It was the same feeling that she felt when she had first met Costia – the overriding desire to be close to the other person.  In retrospect, she counted herself lucky that her girlish crush had led her to something more meaningful than a one-night stand. 

_You know how this is going to end and you know who’s responsible._

They had reached Nyssa’s home which turned out to be an unremarkable building at the edge of the village.  The inside consisted of the single room with a small cooking space in the centre and a table, chairs, and a couple of beds arrayed around the perimeter.  A pot of stew bubbled away merrily over the fire reminding Lexa that she hadn’t eaten since morning.  As Nyssa went over to check on the stew Lexa found herself studying the other woman’s studio space in an effort to take her mind off some inappropriate thoughts involving Nyssa and one of the beds.  While Lexa generally considered herself to be completely lacking in the ability to make art it didn’t stop her from being able to appreciate it.  Seeing it from Clarke’s perspective gave her the benefit of Clarke’s own training and aesthetic sensibilities.  Suddenly Lexa was aware of just how much effort had gone into the scrimshaw sculpture that she was considering not to mention the finesse and expertise that the artist had wielded to craft the detailed designs. 

“So you like it?”  Lexa gave a violent start as she became aware of Nyssa behind her. 

“It’s sublime.”

“It’s unfinished is what it is.” Nyssa laughed, the warm tone of her voice sent a little shiver down Lexa’s back.

Lexa turned around to confront the other woman who was standing uncomfortably close.  She was torn between the desire to embrace Nyssa and back away from her so in the end she held her ground.  Nyssa was the first to break eye contact.

“Dinner’s ready.”

***

One of the nauseating parts of relieving Clarke’s memories were the moments when the memories lost cohesion.  After her dinner with Nyssa the memory had done precisely that and the image had become blurred and indistinct.  Worse still it seemed as though the memory seemed to skip points in time.  In one moment she was asking Nyssa questions about the village economy and in the next she was cleaning her rifle.  The only way Lexa had of explaining the poor quality was the fact that engrams that were deemed to be unimportant were stored at a lower fidelity than those that had significance.

Fortunately for Lexa the memories jumped to the next morning as she found herself out for a walk with Nyssa.  Apparently at some point during the night Clarke had managed to convinced Nyssa to take her to an old pre-war ruin near the village.  The two of were in the middle of a pleasant chat about some of the places that Clarke had visited over the course of her training when they emerged into the clearing where the ruins stood.  The base clearly had seen better days and consisted of a series of weed choked concrete structures. 

It didn’t take long for Lexa to discover that the base had been pretty well picked over and she had to fight down a vague sense of irritation at the bemused looks that Nyssa kept shooting her way whenever she thought she wasn’t being watched.  It was in the last building where she discovered a grime encrusted map of the complex.  While the cluster of buildings labelled munitions storage wouldn’t have meant much to Lexa they did mean a great deal to Clarke.  It didn’t take long for them to find there way over to a trio of grass roofed bunkers and even less time for Lexa to have the door to one of the bunkers cleared off.  Trying the handle revealed that the door was locked and a quick inspection of the surroundings revealed an ancient code panel beside the door.  Thanks to Clarke’s nimble fingers and satchel of tools Lexa had the panel off in seconds and was quickly wiring an impromptu power source into the circuit.

“Do you actually know what you’re doing?” Nyssa asked skeptically.

“Last in my class in hotwiring.” Lexa responded flippantly.

Nyssa’s response was cut off as the door obediently clicked open.  Lexa gave her a smirk before opening the door.  The door revealed only a cavernous darkness and Lexa was glad to have a small battery-operated torch with her to illuminate the space, after all one couldn’t be sloppily waving open flames around a warehouse of ancient weapons.  The torch beam illuminated a vast open space filled with tarpaulined shapes.  As she and Nyssa wandered down the aisles of shapes Lexa found herself wondering what was lurking beneath the tarpaulins.  As if in answer to her question Nyssa pulled the tarpaulin off of one of the shapes.  Beneath was a stubby missile, shrink-wrapped in plastic.  Lexa leaned over the skid that the missile sat on and managed to unearth some dusty paperwork that had been stored with the missile.  The lettering on the document was mostly incomprehensible but what was clear was that what they were staring at was a powerful non-nuclear weapon.

“What is it?” Nyssa asked.

“It’s a bomb.” Lexa found herself responding distractedly.

“A what?”

“It creates an explosion.  Like a much smaller version of Praimfaya.”

Lexa could feel the wheels in Clarke’s mind turning.  She was already at work considering how this ancient weapon could be used to protect the village.  Surprisingly Lexa detected very little concern with how it would benefit Clarke and her agenda.  She dismissed the idea of launching the weapon at the raiders off hand as it was impossible to know if the weapon would launch let along how to guide it to its target.  Then a terrible thought struck her – what if she placed the weapon inside the village itself?  If she could demonstrate the power of the weapon to the Azgeda and then showed them the weapon it would be a powerful discouragement to them.  At the end of the day the people of Grey Harbour had almost nothing left to lose whereas the raiders had everything to lose.  It was classic deterrence theory – deterrence was the art of producing, in the mind of the enemy, the fear to attack and this bomb could do exactly that.  Of course, it hadn’t worked out too well for the nations of the old world.

“Nyssa,” Lexa asked carefully. “How has your life been since the raiders showed up?”

“I’d say unbearable but since we’re all still here, well you get the idea.” Nyssa deadpanned.

“I meant specifically how bad is it?” Lexa prodded.

It took Nyssa a while to answer. “We barely have enough food to make it through the winter.  Anything we make on trade inevitably ends up being stolen by the Azgeda.  It’s like being slave except as a slave your owner has to take care of your needs, the Azgeda don’t.  They take what they want and who they want.”  Nyssa paused again.  “I would have thought that was all pretty fucking obvious.”

Lexa’s response died on her lips as Nyssa stormed out of the bunker.  Lexa found herself chasing after her only to find her sitting on the side of the bunker’s roof staring at the treeline and hugging her knees to herself.

“I’m sorry Nyssa.”

“What are you sorry for Clarke?”  Nyssa replied bitterly. “You aren’t the one that caused the Azgeda to raid our village, to kill our men and to rape our women.”

Lexa sat down carefully beside the other woman. “I just want to do something but what I’m thinking of won’t help.  It’s just a crazy idea.”

“No Clarke.  I know what you were thinking.” Nyssa replied sadly.

“Oh?”

“You’ve got old world fire in that bunker.  We all knew it was down there.  The stories were passed down for generations.  You aren’t the first one to try and get in there, you’re just the first one to succeed.”

“Why did they want to get in there?”

“To find something to fight the Azgeda with.  You have to understand Clarke that most technology is taboo to the Trikru.  It’s not like we didn’t have guns or the means to make more but it was the belief that weapons like that led to the Praimfaya in the first place that led us to abandon them.”

“But you didn’t stop fighting.”

“ _We_ did stop fighting but there will always be bullies.”

“So what do you think I was planning?”

“To us the weapons of the old world come in two types.  The ones like the gun on your shoulder are just better bows, they can’t solve a big problem.  The others are like Praimfaya which can make lasting change.  The threat of such a weapon is such that we could terrify the Azgeda into leaving us alone.”

“And if they make you use it?”

“If it is used then it would kill indiscriminately, us and the Azgeda.  For many of us that is an acceptable price to be paid.”

“What about you?”

“I would rather not die, Clarke,” Nyssa answered with a sad smile. “but at the same time I can’t call what I’m doing right now living.”

For Lexa the sang-froid at the prospect of death was something that she was familiar with.  Everyone was afraid of dying but life on the ground made an early death a certainty.  The members of the Trikru cultivated a stoicism surrounding their mortality from an early age.  It surprised Lexa to see just how taken aback Clarke was by it.  The Skaikru and even her adopted family amongst the Tseekru seemed to view individual lives as something to be safeguarded.   Both societies seemed willing to sacrifice but sacrifices were considered to be a heroic individual decision or terrible catastrophe rather than a mundane reality.

“Come on Clarke, we should be getting back.” Nyssa said, breaking the silence as she dusted herself off.

“What about the bunker?”

“Seal it up.  We’ll let Stefan decide what he wants to do with it.”


	12. The Fourth Bowl

They were almost back to Grey Harbour when Lexa realized that something was wrong.  Normally Lexa would have expected Clarke’s reflexes to be dull and unhoned by her upbringing but she found herself consistently surprised and the depth of abilities the other woman possessed.  While there hadn’t been anything quite as obvious as a pall of smoke hanging over the village, what had set Clarke off was the presence of a set of fresh wagon tracks.  Nyssa on the other hand had remained cheerfully ignorant of the fact that something was wrong.  It wasn’t until Lexa grabbed her hand and pulled her back into the underbrush that she realized that something was wrong.

“Clarke, what is it?”

“Something’s wrong with the village.” Lexa replied distractedly as she unslung her rifle and popped the lens cap off the telescopic sight. As she sighted through the scope the entrance to the village came into stark relief.  The pair of masked Azgeda warriors lounging around beside the entrance were a dead giveaway that the Azgeda had come to pay the village a visit.

“What do you see?”

“Azgeda.” Lexa answered as she slung her rifle back over her shoulder.  Nyssa had gone very pale and quiet at the revelation and Lexa reached out and took her hand. “Hey, it’s going to be okay.”

“How can you say that?” Nyssa snapped back.

“You’re going to show me another way into the village.  Then we’re going to get up to a vantage point and send the Azgeda scurrying back to their queen.”

Nyssa snorted at the mental image but some of her colour had come back and Lexa could tell that she had reignited the other woman’s defiant spirit.  “Come with me.  There’s a way in through a stream at the side of the palisade.”

The two made their way around the village under the cover of the nearby woods.  Lexa mentally thanked her stars for the fact that the village was so poorly defended and the ample cover that pressed up against the palisade walls. 

The stream was little more than a brook that ran through a small stone arch in the wall.  Hunching up Lexa shimmied under the arch and found herself in an enclosed nook that acted as the village’s water source.  The next thing she noticed was that she wasn’t alone.  The Azgeda warrior seemed taken aback by the fact that she had just emerged seemingly out of nowhere.  Fortunately, Clarke’s reflexes were better than the Azgeda soldier’s and in a moment she had closed the distance with him and acting on pure instinct had plunged her combat knife into his throat.  The warrior collapsed with a wet gurgle.

As the adrenaline from the kill subsided Lexa realized that the warrior had been Clarke’s first kill.  As she reached out with a trembling hand to retrieve her knife from the dead warrior she caught the glimpse of something red and fleshy splayed out on the ground behind the dead body.

Nyssa found her being wretchedly and violently ill near the river and it took only a single glance at the defiled corpse for her to collapse to her knees and vomit in disgust.

“Inhuman monsters.” Nyssa snarled as she shakily rose to her feet.  Lexa was still busy trying to still her churning stomach.  When she finally rose she found that Nyssa had sacrificed her coat to give the young woman some final dignity. 

“They’re going to die.” Lexa intoned softly.

“The meeting hall has a wooden roof.  It should provide a good vantage point.”

The two of them were able to make their way to the meeting hall unopposed and it was clear that the townsfolk and the warriors were all gathered in the central square.  With considerable care Lexa was able to worm her way up the roof until she had reached the peak.  A moment later Nyssa joined her.

The scene below them was like something out of ancient history with the Azgeda soldiers lounging around the perimeter of the square while their leader sat in the middle examining the goods that his men had collected from the village.  The villagers were all kneeling before the head Azgeda as though in some twisted form of worship.

Lexa could feel her blood boiling as she slid back down below the peak and unslung her rifle.  She quickly pulled herself back up to the peak and rested her rifle against the peak of the roof.  The head Azgeda jumped into stark relief in her scope.

“We’ll take four of the women with us.” The head Azgeda laughed.  “The goods you have are so pathetic that we need some compensation for the wasted trip.”

The dead woman danced before Lexa’s as a nauseating reminder of what the Azgeda had in mind for the captives and she barely felt herself squeeze the trigger.  The shot rang through the square and the head Azgeda dropped like a sack of wet rags.  Lexa was already shifting to her next target and the semi automatic rifle sent another round howling towards its next victim.  All in all it took under five minutes for the square to be cleared.  Most the Azgeda barely had time to react to the assault and those that did were so unfamiliar with firearms that they simply ran for the village gate which gave Lexa all the opportunity she needed.

As the sulfurous scent of the spent cartridges cleared Lexa looked down on the carnage that she had wrought.  The Azgeda lay dead to a man and the villagers were moving around in dazed awe.  Lexa slid down back down the roof and mechanically ejected the spent clip before slotting home a new one. 

“Clarke.”

Lexa dazedly looked up to Nyssa staring at her with a questioning look as though she had been saying her name several times.

“Clarke are you alright?”

“Not really.”

Nyssa seemed to study her for a few moments before understanding sunk in. “You never killed anyone before.”

“Yes.” Lexa replied sinking down onto the ground and clutching the rifle to her.  It was still warm from the recent battle.  Nyssa sat down beside her and rubbed her back gently.

Lexa had taken her first life at the tender age of sixteen before she had ever become the Heda but, unfortunately for her victim, not before she had begun her training.  The thief had thought that she would be an easy mark and when he had gone to relieve her of her valuables she had reacted on sheer instinct.  Much like Clarke’s recent experience her instincts had guided her blade into the man’s chest.  She could still remember his shocked surprise as he keeled over.  The ruthlessness that she had needed to lead had come later and had taken some cultivating.

For Clarke she had gone from the first kill to gunning down ten warriors in the space of a few minutes.  The fact that they were monsters didn’t really make it any easier.  What surprised Lexa was the fact that the experience hadn’t permanently warped Clarke into someone else.  Amongst her veterans she had seen them perfect a form of detachment from the world around them but Clarke hadn’t seemed to need that.  It seemed that with Clarke that she remained aware of the world around her and the effects of her actions without letting those ghosts consume her.  Either the other woman was incredibly resilient or she simply had found a modus vivendi with her ghosts.

Unfortunately for Lexa the realization did little to help her with the fallout

***

The next hours had passed in another nauseating blur of self-doubt and recriminations.  Through it all Nyssa had been there to soothe her through the worst of it. 

“And now you see what we have to live with.” Nyssa sighed as she ran her fingers through Lexa’s hair.

“So it’s a choice between living at the mercy of the Azgeda or becoming murderers yourself.”

“That about sums it up.”

“There’s a difference though.” Lexa replied sitting up and momentarily dislodging Nyssa’s skilled fingers.

“Oh?”

“A murderer takes life for pleasure, a soldier takes life to protect others, and an executioner takes life to rid the world of the worst of its evils.”

“And so you would cheerfully proceed down the road to becoming an executioner to rid the world if its evils.”

“Not cheerfully … not by a long shot.  If I’m left without options then I would bear the burden of the lives that I have to take rather than being ground under a monster’s boot.” Lexa answered fiercely.

“I don’t think that there are any in this village that feel as you do.”

“You seemed willing to entertain the use of the old world weapons.”

“That’s different.”

“How?”

“Using the old world weapon would rid us of both the Azgeda and the pain we’ve had to suffer.”

“That sounds like a coward’s way out.”

“You are new to suffering Clarke…”

“You think you know me?” Lexa cut her off hotly. “I carry the ghosts of an entire people with me.  Don’t you presume to know my suffering.”

“And just how is that?” Nyssa asked skeptically.

“I was not born into the Tseekru.  My people were born on a station in the sky.  They had lingered there in a sort of half life ever since the bombs had fallen.  Enduring for generation after generation until the Earth was safe again.  In the end they ran out of time and burned up trying to return to Earth.”

“Well that makes you the lucky one to be the only survivor.” Nyssa conceded.

“Lucky is a matter of perspective.”

Nyssa let out a sigh.  “At the end of the day this does not matter.  What matters is that the Azgeda will attack the village.”

“An unfortunate truth.”

Lexa and Nyssa both started from the bed at the unannounced arrival of the chieftain in Nyssa’s house.

“What are you doing here?” Nyssa snapped as she pulled her robe around her.

“I came to congratulate our saviour.” The chieftain replied, the hint of a smirk quirked his lip. “Although I see I needn’t have bothered.”

Lexa placed a soothing hand on Nyssa’s arm. “I’m sure that’s not the only reason you are here.”

“No, it isn’t.  One of our people noticed that you had gone to the Old World armoury.  What I want to know is if you were able to get into it?”

Lexa gave Nyssa a sidelong glance wondering how she should respond.  After all, the village was Nyssa’s home and she was only a visitor. 

“Your silence speaks volumes.  Given that you made it into the armoury I have to wonder if any of the weapons were viable.”

“They seemed to be.”  Nyssa said, breaking the silence.

“Then we lack only one thing to save ourselves from the Azgeda.” The chieftain fixed Lexa with a solemn stare.

In that moment Lexa knew that Clarke had been given the choice between condemning the people of Grey Harbour to living under the bootheel of the Azgeda or gambling with their lives and potentially freeing them.  It wasn’t much of choice and put in Clarke’s shoes Lexa would have made the same choice.

“I’ll help you.”

***

The Azgeda came in force just as everyone had expected with a force of just over 50 warriors.  It was not without a certain degree of pride that Lexa had watched them inch their way towards the town practically trembling with fear.  Raiders were not dissimilar from bullies and they lacked the backbone of true warriors.  Something with the power to destroy an entire party of them without a single survivor was something to be feared.  Soon they would have something else to fear.

The leader of the group, a larger specimen than his comrades, did his best to inspire his fellows by strutting fearlessly straight down the road towards the town.  If Lexa hadn’t needed him to lead his men away from the village she would have gladly put a bullet in his head.  Waiting at the gate for him were a group of armed villagers along with the chieftain.  Clarke had elected to take up a vantage point on the roof of the hall once again partially to prevent any double dealing on the part of the Azgeda and partially to make it appear that the villagers had accomplished this feat entirely by themselves.  The bomb sat innocuously behind the party at the main gate – a dull grey missile waiting patiently to obliterate the entire village.

The Azgeda leader drew himself up in front of the chieftain one hand casually tapping an oversized mace against his leg.  “So Stefan, it seems you have finally found your backbone.  Where exactly was it that you misplaced it?”

The leader’s retinue burst into guffaws but there was a hint of nervousness about the way they laughed.

“I found it when I found that your people bleed just as easily as ours.” The chieftain shot back.

“Generosity!  That was my first mistake.   I left you a little bit extra and you found the courage to slaughter my men.  Know that your blood will irrigate this land for the slaves who will farm it after you are dead.”

“Take one more step and you and all your men are dead.”

The Azgeda leader broke into a deep belly laugh.  “What are you going to do?  Summon Wanheda to slaughter me and my men?”

“You could say that.” The chieftain drew back to show the Azgeda the bomb.

“What is that?”

“A container of praimfaya.”

“I don’t believe you.  It looks like a hunk of metal.”

“I thought you might say that.”  The chieftain slowly withdrew the remote Lexa had given him and showed it to the Azgeda.  “Do you know what this is?” 

“A little box with lights on it?”

“It will detonate another container buried some leagues down the road.”  The chieftain slowly depressed the trigger.

Lexa had never seen praimfaya but she had heard the tales.  The reality was far worse than even her most vivid imaginings.  First there was a small thump scarcely more than the sound of a distant gunshot but it was soon followed by a bright yellow orange fire ball blossoming into the morning sky.  The strangest part was that it was completely soundless for a few seconds before the blast wave hit them.  The blast sent a wave dust billowing in front of it and shook the trees around them.  Lexa was almost shaken off the roof by its force.  This had been the work of one of the smaller warheads planted some distance away.  The warhead that sat in the village square was considerably more powerful and Lexa felt a shiver running down her spine knowing that she had the power over such a terrible weapon.

As the Azgeda pulled himself to his feet he glared at the rising mushroom cloud down where the blast had gone off.  “Sorcery!”

“Now you see our power.” The chieftain answered him grimly.

“It would be madness for you to use such a weapon.”

“Why?”

“You and all your people would die along with us.”

“We all feel the same – this is not life.”

“You are all mad.”

“Go.  Go and leave us alone unless you want to die.”

The Azgeda leader gaped at him before gesturing to his frightened men to follow him.  The entire force of raiders seemed to melt back into the woods leaving the villagers alone.

They had won.

***

Lexa had spent the last two days basking in Nyssa’s affection as the deliverer of the village.  Gaining the right to the harbour in perpetuity had been a nice bonus as well.  Unfortunately like all good things she had to return home although she was able to promise that first Tseekru ship would bring the village some relief and armed marines.  Hopefully that would allow them to decommission their bomb and settle into normal village life.  She had left the detonator in Nyssa’s hands as she was the only one in the village she trusted enough not to accidentally set it off.

Lexa and Nyssa were the last ones left on the dock – the entire village had gathered to wish her well but at Stefan’s urging the villagers had said their good byes and given the two some privacy.  Clarke glanced over at the small sailing pinnace the villagers had given her and then back to Nyssa.  Nyssa’s eyes were filled with regret. 

“Come with me Nyssa.” Lexa begged.

“You know I can’t Clarke.”

“What’s here for you Nyssa?  We may have banished the Azgeda but there isn’t much future here.”

“This is home for me Clarke.  These are my people, I can’t just leave them.”

Lexa’s stomach twisted at that and she could feel moisture pricking at her eyes.  She didn’t have a people or a home anymore.  Her reaction didn’t go unnoticed by Nyssa either.

“Oh hodnes, that’s not what I meant.  I’m sorry.” Nyssa pulled her in close.

When Nyssa released her it was all Lexa could do not to burst into tears.  It felt like her heart was being pulled apart.  Nyssa distracted her quickly by pushing something into her hands.  As Lexa looked at it she realized that it was Nyssa’s scrimshaw pendant.

“Your pendant?”

“A little piece of me that you can carry with you.”

“But that means?”

Nyssa gave her a silly smile and thumped her shoulder playfully.  “I’m asking you to be my intended?  Yes.”

Lexa stared at her in befuddlement before a big silly grin broke out across her face.

“Now I want you to take good care of yourself and make sure you come back soon.” Nyssa said reprovingly.  “Especially now that you have a good reason to.”

“Yes ma’am.” Lexa replied, smirking as she did so.  A frown crossed her face. “You don’t want me to stay now?  Be honest.”

“Oh Clarke.” Nyssa sighed.  “You know I want you to stay but I know you.  You have what we call fernweh.”

“What’s that?”

“Wanderlust.  You have so much to see and so much to do Clarke.  To ask you to stay here with me would be selfish.”

“But I want to be here with you.”

“You want that _now_. After living the simple life you would grow weary of it and then far away places would sing their siren song to you.  They would steal you away from me.  I don’t want to lose you so I have to let you be free, if that makes any sense.”  Nyssa gave her a sad smile.

“You are wiser than you look Nyssa.”

“Better than looking wiser than you are.” Nyssa quipped back.  Rather than bothering to give her a response Lexa gathered her up and gave her a smothering kiss.

Lexa ended up taking far longer than she had expected to set out from Grey Harbour but depart she did.  As she set her sails for the open ocean she glanced back at the solitary figure framed by the arms of the breakwater standing on the dock.  She would return soon and when she did she would convince Nyssa to leave the village, at least for a little while.  She gave the figure a wave knowing that she was too far away to actually see it and returned her attention to the pinnace. 

One of the first things Clarke had been taught was that sailing by oneself on the ocean was a dangerous business.  The ocean demanded respect and if it was not given then it would be taken followed shortly by your life.  Smelling the salt air was like a tonic for her and it wasn’t long before her heartache was subsumed into the joy of sailing.  True, she had left Nyssa behind but she would see her again.  She was in love and having a wonderful sail - there was scarcely a better feeling than that.

By the time the coastline had shrunk to a grey green line behind her Lexa was docking with the merchantman making its way down from the north.  The merchantman would take her the rest of the way to Norfolk. 

A rumble of thunder disrupted Lexa’s final preparations for approaching the merchantman.  As she glanced up at the sky she noticed that there were no stormfronts as far as she could see.  As she scanned the horizon her eye came to rest on a malignant dark cloud slowly heaving itself up from the shoreline.

“No.”

***

The fires blazed around her brightly and the soot had coated her face and skin.  The ashes had woven themselves into her hair and her clothes making her look like she had taken a walk through a crematorium, which she had.  All around her the Azgeda camp _burned_ and the warriors screamed.  She was primordially delighted at the thought of sharing her pain so freely with the ones who had caused it. 

It had been a long time after the grief had abated before she had felt anything and when she had it had been a desire for vengeance.  She had hunted the Azgeda survivors like some sort of eldritch terror dogging their movements with the slain bodies of their comrades.  It had not mattered that the Azgeda had retreated or that they had been joined by other warriors.  All that had mattered was hunting down the leader who had ordered the attack against reason and humanity and then had had the unmitigated gall and cowardice not to lead it himself.  So much the better for her.

She had winnowed their numbers and made them sick with fear before launching her final attack on them using the very weapons that had taken Nyssa’s life.  Improbably the armoury had survived the conflagration that had left Grey Harbour naught but a blasted grey hole in the ground.

Now the camp burned and the most of the warriors were dead or dying.  Two bodyguards later and she was watching the Azgeda leader crawl pitifully away from her.  It hadn’t helped matters that she had put a bullet in each of his legs.

“Please Wanheda.” He blubbered pitifully as he turned to face her. “Let me live.”

Lexa unsheathed her sword as she advanced towards him. “You took someone from me.”

“What?”

“Someone in Grey Harbour.”

“They were insignificant worms beneath your notice.” He whimpered pitifully.  “Their lives were my gift to you.”

Lexa could feel her lips curling into an animalistic snarl. “Her life was not insignificant.”

The azgeda leader’s further begging was cut off by a wet gurgle as she drove her sword into him.  It was a far quicker death than he had deserved.

As she sunk to her knees she let out a raspy breath.  “You won’t be lacking for companionship much longer Nyssa.”

A soft rustle behind her startled her from her reverie and a moment later she was on her feet with her revolver pressed against the forehead of the Azgeda warrior who had been sneaking up behind her.  The sword dropped from his nerveless fingers as he sank to his knees.

“Please Wanheda.”  He begged.

“Please what?”  She spat. “Please spare my life?”

He nodded vigorously as he squeezed his eyes shut.  “I have a wife and a child.  I did this only because I was ordered.”

She sneered at him.  “I have killed fathers and mothers, sons and daughters, the guilty and the innocent.  Mostly guilty from where I’m standing.  You haven’t really convinced me why you are any different from the corpses around you.”

For a while the only sound was the roar of the fires around them.  Lexa’s eyes stung from the smoke or, maybe, the grief.

“You are right Wanheda.”  The young man finally answered.  “I have not done anything that entitles me to live but I can still do something.”

“What do you mean?”

“I can change.”

“And what would you do?”  She asked as her finger slowly tightened around the trigger.

“I can go back and tell my people of this.  Tell them that Wanheda herself demands that we end our raiding.  I can teach my child to be a better person, to have courage where I did not.  I can try to convince my village to follow a path of rightness and honour and not be subject to the honourless ways of our queen.”

“You would probably die.” Lexa stated dully.

The man’s eyes glinted in the firelight.  “This has to have meant something.  All this blood must have a meaning.”

“And what if it had no meaning?  What if there was no point?”

“Then we will give it a point.  We will build something from this horror so that it does not happen again.”

Lexa stared at him.  She slowly released her finger from the trigger and removed the gun from his head.

“You have redeemed yourself.”  She said in wonderment.

“Thank you Wanheda.  I swear I will do what I promised.” 

The young man backed away from her hurriedly and then ran away into the smoke.

“You may just have redeemed us both.”


	13. Cold on the Stroke of Midnight

“Costia!”

Clarke shot awake before realizing that she was one who had been screaming.  The next thing she noticed was that she was cold and damp.  The fact that she was no longer in the grip of that infernal plant followed some time after the other realizations.  She could still feel the sticky coating of blood slicking her hands as she looked into Costia’s sightless gaze.  There was a kinship in the suffering they had shared.

Fighting down the nausea from her new memories Clarke took in her surroundings for the first time.  She was in a gully in the middle of a forest with a small fire burning in front of her.  Glancing up at the sky confirmed that there was a light drizzle falling which explained why she felt wet.  Lexa sat across the fire from her regarding her with an expression that was a cross between quizzical and sympathetic. 

“I see you’re back in the land of the living Clarke.”

Clarke groaned as she levered herself into a more comfortable sitting position.  “What happened?”

“Your guess is as a good as mine.  I woke up here a couple of minutes ago.”

Clarke glanced around her again looking for some clue as to what had happened.  Her efforts were for the naught and she returned her gaze to Lexa.  “You don’t suppose we’re still dreaming in that plant.”

“From what I experienced the plant was more interested in harvesting memories than creating illusions.”

“And just what did you experience?”

“I would say the same thing that you did, _Wanheda_.”  Lexa gave her a hard look.

“Don’t call me that.”  Clarke snapped back.  “Your memories were no picnic.”

“Compared to Grey Harbour and …”

Clarke cut her off.  “Don’t say her name.”  She subsided a moment later.  “I just can’t right now.”

Lexa’s gaze fell and she looked guilty.  “I’m sorry Clarke.  It’s just a lot to have gone through.”

“I know.”

Lexa looked back up at her, her expression was something Clarke hadn’t seen before – vulnerability.  “Clarke?”

The request scarcely needed to be said since Clarke was feeling the same way.  Clarke held out her hand and motioned for Lexa to come over to her side of the fire.  After all that had happened to them Clarke was feeling more than a little vulnerable herself.  As Lexa settled down beside her Clarke wrapped an arm around the other woman.  Lexa settled into her with a soft sigh.  They sat there looking at the fire in silence.

Clarke was the one to break the silence after several restful minutes.  “Lexa?”

“Yes Clarke?”

“Where do you think we are?”

“I have no idea.”  Lexa replied as she shifted.  “We’re going to have to move soon.”

Clarke cast a sidelong glance at Lexa wondering as she did so what the other woman was thinking about.  Lexa’s face had softened as she stared into the fire and Clarke couldn’t help be wonder what Lexa had thought of her memories.  For her part Clarke had found the experience of becoming Heda to be a gruelling ordeal made bearable only by Costia’s tender presence.  Going through the anguish of losing her had been one thing but what had followed had been worse.  Costia’s head hadn’t been the first body part to be sent to Lexa.  How Lexa had endured that knowing that day by day Costia was being diminished was beyond Clarke’s ability to fathom but the other woman hadn’t relented.  With Nyssa Clarke had been able to convince herself that Nyssa had felt no pain and she had been able to avenge her, though Clarke suspected that would have scarcely been what Nyssa would have wanted.  With Costia Lexa had been forced to suffer through knowing and imagining what was happening to her, all the while holding her state on a course that guaranteed that Costia would die slowly.  At the end she had been forced to smile as the Azgeda joined the coalition.

“What are you thinking about?”  Lexa asked giving Clarke a searching look.

“Nothing.” Clarke replied too quickly, starting away from Lexa.

Lexa frowned at her.  “That was not nothing.  You were frowning so hard it looked like you would develop permanent worry lines.”

“I was thinking about Costia, about what you went through.” Clarke conceded, glancing away from Lexa guiltily.

Lexa reached out a hand drew Clarke’s gaze back up to her own.  “It’s alright Clarke.  I try to honour her memory by remembering the good parts as she would have wanted.  I think we would appreciate it if you do the same.”

Clarke found herself humbled by that.  Her thoughts were momentarily interrupted by Lexa’s finger ghosting over the side of her face.  The intimacy that Lexa seemed to be sharing with her was something new.

As Clarke sat dazed Lexa rose from her seated position.  “Well, we have no way of navigating and no idea where we are.”

Clarke dusted herself off and rose to join her.  “What do you propose we do?”

“Pick a direction and start walking.  If we’re lucky we’ll hit some sort of landmark.”

In retrospect Clarke wouldn’t have picked luck as the right word for it.

***

Three hours later the two of them were huddled in the low brush at the edge of the forest staring perplexedly at the crashed wreckage of the Ark and the small bustling fortress that had grown up around it.

“I can’t believe you want to go down there!” Clarke was whispering as loud as she could.  “You of all people.”

Lexa gave her a wan smile.  “The irony isn’t lost on me.  The simple truth of the matter is that we can’t go on without weapons or supplies.”

“If they knew who you are they would kill you in a heartbeat.”

“Hardly likely.  They would probably try and use me as a bargaining chip to extract peace and concessions out of the Kongeda.  _Then_ they would kill me.”

Clarke groaned.  “This is a bad idea Lexa.  I’m the one who’s supposed to want to go home and I’m the one trying to get us away from here.”

Lexa turned back to Clarke with a frown. “What would you suggest as an alternative?  The nearest village is a day’s hard march through hostile territory filled with Skaikru patrols, Rippas, Maunon, Outcasts and even my own scouts.”

Clarke stared back at her with a sour expression.  “I don’t have to like it.” She said in a small voice.

“How do you think we cross the no man’s land without being shot?”

“Down the path with our hands up.  Hopefully we’ll be more of a curiousity than a threat.”

“What then?”

Clarke pinched the bridge of her nose trying to figure out what the most likely scenario would be.  “At a guess we would be restrained and taken to whatever passes for a jail, maybe separated.  After they identify me they would probably let me go free.  You, they would keep incarcerated.”

“Even if they didn’t know who I was.”

“Prisoner of war.” At Lexa’s blank look Clarke elaborated.  “A prisoner of war is someone from the opposing side who is confined until the war ends.  You’re a grounder and enemy.  What’s your grand plan anyway Lexa, you do have one don’t you?”

“My plan is for us to spend a couple of days with your people and then for me to take my leave.” 

The way Lexa put made it sound so simple – the way a soldier looked at the world.  Clarke was slightly more versed in infiltration.  “This is how it’s going to work.  You are going to play a role Lexa – the role of my companion and bodyguard.”

“You mean pretend to be something that I’m not?” Lexa asked quizzically. “Like a spy?”

As Clarke was about to sigh in frustration until she noticed the hint of a smile playing at the edges of Lexa’s impassive visage. “You were pulling my leg?”

“Come now Clarke, as the Heda I know all about playing a role.  I play one almost daily depending on the audience.  It is pleasant to just be Lexa once in a while.”

At the realization of what Lexa had just said Clarke felt her cheeks colour and she glanced at the ground.  “Alright, so the key to going undercover is to have a believable story that matches the facts as closely as possible.  The less you have to think about keeping your lies consistent the less likely you are to be found out.”  
“Then I shall certainly have my work cut out for me.” Lexa replied grimly.

“Not really.  That plant has given us a unique advantage.”  
“And just what’s that?”

“Nyssa.”

“What does Nyssa have to do with this.”  
Clarke mentally begged Nyssa’s forgiveness from whatever plane of the afterlife she was inhabiting before she continued.  “We use what you know of Nyssa to make a backstory for you.”

“You want me to be an artisan from a destroyed village?”

“That wouldn’t work but we tweak it a bit.”  Clarke replied animatedly.  “You were the village guard.  We keep the rest the same except that you came with me before the village was destroyed.”

Lexa gazed at Clarke skeptically.

“After that we were inseparable, roaming around the wasteland.”

“I suppose that could work.” Lexa conceded grudgingly.

“This type of cover should be enough to keep you from spending the stay in the lock up.”

“Assuming they don’t shoot us or keep _both_ of us locked away.”

“Now who’s being pessimistic?”

“So I keep my name?”  
“Will anyone associate your name with your position?  Would anyone recognize you?” 

“No, the Skaikru have never seen me and Lexa is not an uncommon name among my people.”

“Then I don’t see a problem.”

“Is there anything else I should be aware of?”

Clarke rubbed her forehead absentmindedly. _There are only about a million things that can go wrong with this plan_.

“Nothing else that we can do with the time that we have available.”

“Lead the way then Clarke.”

As they wound their way down from the tree line Clarke kept a close eye on the Ark for any hint of movement.  When they cleared the scrubby underbrush motioned to Lexa to raise her hands before they started on the last leg of the journey to the gate.  She only a made a few steps before a shot rang out and a puff dirt exploded just in front of her.

“That’s far enough Grounder scum.  Give me one good reason not to end you right now.”

Clarke squinted at the wall trying to make out the shooter’s position before giving up and answering him.  “I was one of the Hundred sent to Earth three years ago.  I seek an audience with the Chancellor.”

Her response was met with what she guessed to be a stunned silence.  Perhaps it was the fact that she spoke perfect English instead of the Tridasleng used by the Kongeda or it could equally have been the audacity of her claim.  Fortunately, she didn’t have to wait long.

“Advance to the gate so we can get a better look at you.  No sudden moves.”

As the pair of them advanced towards the gate Clarke’s trained eye was already analyzing the defenses that her former people had erected around their new home.  The outer layer of mesh fencing looked suspicious like it could be electrified while the inner walls were a mix of wood and metal sections.  The designers clearly knew very little of fortification as they had built a simple straight wall completely lacking in any kind of features to prevent undermining or sapping.  The outer wall of Norfolk had been a sophisticated stone and cement structure utilizing a saw tooth design which prevented dead zones.  Defensive and offensive siege techniques had been required learning for Outriders as they never knew when they might be called upon to lead a defense or assault on a fortified position.

Clarke came to a halt just below the gate and looked up at the guards craning over the parapet to get a good look at her.  The guards were brushed to the side as another figure leaned over the parapet.  Charles Pike had been a teacher at one point in time but in Clarke’s estimation he had traded command of a classroom for command of the guard.  Dealing with him was bound to be more difficult.

“And just who do you claim to be?” Pike asked after glancing her over.

“Clarke Griffin.”

Pike seemed to consider this for a moment.  “Your hair colour may match but you could have just as easily killed the real Clarke and been sent here to spy.”

“If you’re going to proceed from that assumption then there wouldn’t be anything that I could say here and now that would confirm my identity.”

Pike held her gaze thoughtfully.  “Who’s your friend?”

“She’s my travelling companion and bodyguard, Lexa.”

“She’s a grounder.” Pike remarked conversationally.

“Yes.”

“I guess the real question is what you want Clarke?  Why did you suddenly show up three years later at our doorstep?”

“I just found out you survived and I wanted to see if it was true.”  That much at least was true but beyond that Clarke wasn’t even sure what her own goals were.

“Well that seems vaguely plausible.” Pike replied disinterestedly. “It still doesn’t really answer my question though – what is it that you want?”

“I want to rejoin the Ark.”                                                                

“If you are who you say you are then you would understand that while you may have been away from the Ark you can never really leave it behind.”

_Well at least we still have leaders that aren’t afraid of using a wall as a soapbox and spouting patriotic drivel at the drop of the hat.  The more things change the more they stay the same._

Pike seemed to make a decision.  “I suppose we better bring you and your friend in to see if you really are telling the truth.” 

With Pike’s statement the doors ground open and group of guards came boiling out with their guns drawn and pointed in their general direction.

“Not much of a welcome home.” Clarke grumbled to herself as one of the guards efficiently zip tied her hands behind her back.  Glancing over she saw Lexa receiving the same treatment before being spun towards the open gate and given a shove to get her moving.

After a short march to the main wreck of the Ark, Clarke found herself seated in a nondescript room with only table for company.  The Guard’s tactics didn’t seem to have changed much since arriving on Earth and they still used the same hackneyed techniques of making a suspect stew for a while before interrogating them.  While it should have made Clarke feel nervous it was only making her feel irritated.  She was on the cusp of seeing her mother and the other citizens of the Ark again and she got to sit in a waiting room.  There was one thing that did make her nervous and that was what was happening to Lexa.

The door swung open a groan of unoiled hinges to admit Pike who took the seat opposite Clarke.  

“Alright Clarke lets start at the beginning.”

“So you’re acknowledging I am who I say I am.” Clarke inquired innocently though she knew that she was playing a dangerous game with Pike’s emotions.

“No.  I just don’t have anything else to call you.  Grounder spy may be accurate but it’s not very polite.” Pike’s demeanour remained remarkably unruffled.  “So what did you do after you landed?”

“The dropship had landed in water and I had gone to break out the life raft.  I had fallen into the water when the dropship exploded.”  At Pike’s nod she continued.  “After the drop ship exploded I managed to get in the raft but I couldn’t find any survivors.  It was sheer luck that I was picked up by a passing ship.”

“Ship?  The grounders don’t have ships.”  Pike interrupted.

“You know this for a fact?”  Clarke shot back, irritable at having been interrupted.  “The people of the Ark get out to the ocean on a regular basis, do they?”

“The grounders are ignorant savages who can barely make a fire.  Making a ship is beyond their means.”  Pike stated condescendingly.

“So the grounders are a single unitary nation?” Clarke replied sarcastically.

“You had best watch your tone.”

Clarke leaned back thoughtfully.  She had learned that Pike couldn’t resist pontificating and that the Arkers had fallen into the predictable pattern of viewing the Grounders a single inferior group. 

“Perhaps you have a differing viewpoint on Grounder politics that has been informed by your vast experience of living on the ground?  Well Clarke?”

“The Grounders are a group of tribes bound together in a loose political alliance but then you already knew that.” Clarke answered as she studied Pike’s face.

“You’re cleverer than I remember.” Pike remarked casually.  “So some grounders have ships.  That’s news.”

“You want me to go on then?”  At Pike’s nod she continued. “I was picked up by a ship from a different group of Grounders know as the Ship Clan.  I doubt you would have ever run across them as they reside behind the fallout barrier surrounding Norfolk.”

“Are they a part of this ‘alliance’?”

“No, they’re an independent city state with technology that matches that of the Ark.  They were the descendants of the sailors at sea during the apocalypse.”

“Seems a bit hard to believe but go on.”

“They took me in and trained me to survive on the ground.  I’ve been working for them ever since I landed.”

“And you didn’t think to come looking for us?”

“When I left you didn’t even know the ground was safe and the Ark only had a few more months of oxygen left.  The Ship Clan let me use their radio transmitters but there was too much interference for me to make contact with the Ark.  Then I saw the Ark fall.” Clarke paused fighting down her emotions.

“So you didn’t bother to come check on the wreckage until now?” 

“The ark wasn’t meant to re-enter the atmosphere.  I thought that you were all dead.”

“Or you just assumed the worst because you had a cushy life with your grounder buddies?”

“Or maybe I didn’t have a death wish.  In case you didn’t realize you’ve made your home in one of the most dangerous zones of the Ground.”

“The only danger I’ve seen are the Grounders.”

It took a moment for Clarke to realize that in Pike’s blinkered worldview that the Grounders included the Reapers.  “And what about those berserk Grounders that you can’t reason with.”

“We don’t have the luxury of drawing distinctions Clarke.  Once the Grounders have been pacified we can consider their petty distinctions.”

“Maybe you can clue me in Pike, what’s set you on this path and where do you see it going?”

“While you were the living the high life in the South,” Clarke bristled at this.  What was it with people on the Ark and their persecution complex? “We were struggling to survive against the Northern barbarians.  They took some of us for slaves and butchered the rest.  We paid them back.  More importantly it taught us that the way of the ground is conflict.  We have to take our land by force.”

“So that’s the future of the Ark – endless war?”

“Not endless Clarke.” Pike replied confidently. “Our superior technology gives us an advantage over the grounders.  We will supress the aggressive elements and incorporate the weaker members of their society into ours as a worker class.”

Clarke felt her bile climbing up her throat, incapable of actually surviving by their own merits the Arkers were pursuing a policy of aggressive militarization.  Clarke knew enough of history to know that societies built upon the back of an enslaved workforce would eventually find themselves destroyed by that same workforce.  Of course, every society believes itself to be the exception to the rule.   No matter how much she disliked Pike’s political agenda she couldn’t afford to be too contrary.

“I can’t say that I’m terribly fond of the Grounders as whole but can we really hope to fight the Grounders even with our advanced technology?  The numbers aren’t on our side.”

“For now we need only fight a holding action.  After a few generations we should be able to build up our population to a level capable of winning a protracted battle against the grounders.”

_You’re a fool to think that they would ever allow you to last a few generations_.

“I see.”

“I’m surprised Clarke.  You seemed pretty chummy with your Grounder friend there.”

“Lexa’s an exception.  I’d trust her with my life.” Clarke replied shortly before amending her last statement. “I’ve trusted her with my life already.”

“I have to say that I don’t see her as much of benefit.  Regardless you’ll have to be split up.”

_Play the role Clarke.  He’s just testing you._

“So you would let us stay?” Clarke asked tentatively.

“We’ll put you on probation for now.  You’ll have to pass an aptitude test to see we’re you’ll end up but I think we’ll probably start you as a labour gang guard.  You can probably work your way up from there to a role with the guard in ‘external security’.”

“And Lexa?”

“She’ll be put to work in one of the labour gangs.” Pike added distractedly.

“I’m grateful for the opportunity but I would urge you to reconsider.”

“Oh and why is that?” Pike asked skeptically his attention turning back to Clarke.

“For one thing Lexa and I are an effective team.  We’ve worked together scouting the Wilds all around the Mount Weather exclusion zone.  We would be more useful gathering intelligence as opposed to being split up to perform menial tasks.”

“Everyone does what Arkadia asks of them especially the grounders.”  Pike replied shortly.

_Bargain with him Clarke.  He thinks he’s Arkadia._

“We’re both pragmatists so let’s cut straight through the rhetoric to the core of the matter.” Pike leaned forward, intrigued for the first time. “I knew how it worked on the Ark – the ability to provide items or services of value proved one’s value.  What I’m proposing is a way of demonstrating my worth in my current role.”

“Go on.”

“Arkadia’s survival depends on remaining technologically superior to the Grounders.  Your technology is a finite resource that is irreplaceable.  You’ll eventually run out of guns, bullets and explosives and in short order you’ll be reduced to fighting the Grounders on their terms.”  Pike’s troubled expression told her that her words cut closer to the truth than he would have liked. “Not only do I have an in with a group that can supply you with arms for the long term but I can help you address your short term needs with a cache of old world technology.”

“A true citizen of the Ark would share that information freely.  Were you not listening when I told you that this is a struggle for the future of our people?”

“Oh I believe in the struggle but I also don’t intend to be played.” Clarke cut off Pike’s insulted rebuke.  “My identity was never in question but my value was.  You needed to see if I have any useful skills and if I’ll be a threat to Arkadia’s future.  Well Charles, I want to be a part of your vision of Arkadia’s future but I intend to be helping you lead that future.”

Pike sat back with an expression halfway between irritated and impressed. “Alright Clarke.  You’ve talked yourself up.  Impress me with what you have to offer.”

“I know the location of Raven Rock.”

_I do?  Where did that come from._

“Raven Rock was destroyed in the initial attack.” Pike scoffed.

“Raven Rock is very much intact and very active.”

“How do you know this?”

“I found it but the automated defenses around the entrance were still active so I couldn’t get in.  They were … impressive.”

“What exactly?”

“Flying scout drones as well as larger versions that were armed not to mention a host of sentry guns.  I was lucky to have escaped with my life.”

_But I’ve never been to Raven Rock.  How do I know these things?_

“That’s an impressive tale but you need to prove that it’s true.”

“I can show your scouts where to find it on a map.  They can verify that the outer defenses exist and then, when the time comes, I can help you get into the bunker.   I’ve had some experience with getting into to pre-war caches before.”

“What’s your price Clarke?”

“A decent job with the guard and Lexa.  She stays with me.”

“Alright, Clarke.  Colour me curious enough to humour you but on two conditions.  First, you answer to me and me alone.  If I’m going to be your sponsor I expect something in return - any special jobs, comments, or intelligence you pick up from the other councillors finds its way back to me.”

“And the second?”

“You tell me why you’re really sticking your neck out for Lexa and spare me the blood sisterhood explanation because that’s not enough.”

“I don’t know what you mean.”

“Clarke.” Pike said warningly. “I want to know what kind of hold she has on you that you would stick your neck out for her.”

_What kind of hold indeed?  Could you even put it into words?_

Clarke knew that she had to come up with an explanation that would satisfy Pike as being plausible.  Ultimately there was only one explanation why someone would risk her life for someone else.

Clarke wetted her lips nervously.  “She’s my lover.”

“Ahhh.” The hinted of a satisfied smile played across Pike’s lips.  It wasn’t just a smile of satisfaction but a smile of victory.  “You can be reasonable after all.”

_He thinks you understand your role in the pecking order._

“So we have an agreement?”

There was a long moment where Pike seemed to enjoy watching her squirm before giving her a slight nod.  “Since I have your word Clarke, Lexa will be placed under your direct supervision.  You are to report to the Guard first thing tomorrow for an evaluation of your skills.”

***

The quarters Pike’s men had given her were scarcely larger than her old prison cell and scarcely better decorated.  The room consisted of a battered table and a pair of chairs and a double bed.  This time she didn’t even have a window but in the end she doubted that she would have had much of view of anything other than Arkadia.  It seemed she had traded one prison cell for another.

As she sat there under the single gloomy bulb she found her mind drifting back to her time in the Skybox.  Each night she would look out through her tiny viewport and imagine what life was like on the lush blue green jewel below her.  Not once had she imagined the alternatively beautiful and brutal world of the ground that she would face. 

Her musings were interrupted by the door opening to admit Lexa.  Lexa looked as though she had been on the receiving end of considerably rougher treatment than Clarke had been as she was shoved through the door.  She was sporting a split lip and a black eye and doubtless a few bruises under her bloodied clothes.  The guards hadn’t even bothered to remove her bindings.  Spinning on her heel Lexa turned to the guard behind her and hissed an unintelligible curse at him.  His only response was a to laugh before slamming the door in her face.  As Clarke reached out to touch her Lexa spun back towards her, her expression still twisted with hate. 

“Lexa?”

The bloodfog seemed to drain from Lexa’s eyes as she recognized Clarke. “Klark?”

It was a bad sign that Lexa had chosen to use the grounder pronunciation of Clarke’s name. “What happened to you?” Clarke asked as she hurried over to the washbasin and soaked one of the towels.

Lexa eased herself down into the chair that Clarke had recently vacated. “I enjoyed some of your people’s hospitality.  Apparently, they think that asking questions works better if you hit the person you’re trying to get answers from.”

Clarke set to work cleaning the dried blood from Lexa’s bruised face. “At least you still have your sense of humour.  What were they asking you?”

“They were obsessed with where my army was.” Lexa’s laugh was interrupted with a soft wince.  Clarke made a mental note to check her ribs.

“What army?”

“Well a pair of grounder scouts would never come this close unless they were planning to attack, at least that’s what I would assume.  Stupid Skaikru, scouts would never come and knock on your gate.”

“Lexa, how many fingers am I holding up?” Clarke asked as she finished cleaning Lexa’s face and held up two fingers.

“Two?  What does this have to do with what I’m talking about?”

“Concussion.”  At Lexa’s blank look. “Concussion is a serious injury that can happen when you’ve been hit in the head.”

“Repeatedly.” Lexa grumbled.

“If you feel nausea, loss of focus or a headache.” Clarke winced at Lexa’s baleful glare, of course she had a headache. “You need to let me know.  The injury could be more serious than we thought.”

“Clarke, why did they let me out and why am I here with you?”

“Why would you suppose I had anything to do with that?” Clarke asked toying nervously with the rag.

“Clarke …”

Clarke rose and leaned in close to Lexa.  Lexa blinked in confusion as she moved to whisper in her ear.

“Just listen to me Lexa and don’t say anything.  They are listening to us right now using technology from the Ark.  I made a deal with Pike to get us both a degree of freedom here.  We will appear to serve him loyally until we can figure out a way to get out of here.  Our opportunity may come if we can convince them to take use to Raven Rock.  In order to justify your release I told Pike that we were lovers.  I need you to play along.  Okay?”

Clarke leaned back glanced at Lexa.  Lexa’s gaze had gone completely serious and she give Clarke a swift nod.

“I’m sorry Lexa,” Clarke said for the benefit of her audience. “I had to tell Pike about us.”

“I understand Clarke.  I’m glad that you were able to convince Pike to let us go.”  Lexa replied carefully, her eyes darting about the room as though searching for Pike’s listening devices.  “What do you intend to do now?”

“For now I intend to make sure that you’re alright.  Tomorrow morning we’re to report to Major Byrne for a combat evaluation.”

“Why is it that I suspect it won’t be a fair evaluation?”

“Because you’re a realist.” Clarke replied as she finished wiping the last of the dried blood from Lexa’s lip. “All done.”

As Clarke was about to rise Lexa caught her hands in her own.  “Thank you Clarke.”

Clarke could feel Lexa’s hands weaving themselves into her own as she looked into Lexa’s green orbs.  There was something heartfelt about those three words that suggested a meaning beyond the superficial.  Clarke could feel Lexa studying her as she broke her gaze and glanced down before meeting her gaze once more.  Before Clarke had a chance to react Lexa leaned in and brushed her lips against Clarke’s in a soft kiss.

Clarke had had a few lovers in her time on the ground but they had either been casual affairs or the whirlwind romance she had shared with Nyssa.  Lexa’s kiss seemed to promise something that Clarke hadn’t experienced before – not simply the urgency of shared attraction but the desire to explore the connection that they now shared.  As Lexa began to withdraw from the kiss Clarke leaned in and gave her a slow, lingering, kiss.

Just as Clarke was settling back the door to their quarters creaked open.  Clarke bolted upright to confront whoever had dared to infringe on her privacy when she stopped with her mouth half open.

“Mom.”


	14. The Outsider

As Clarke threw herself into her mother’s arms Lexa could not help but feel as though she was intruding on an intensely personal moment.  It was shaping up that her relationship with Clarke was going to be one of enforced intimacy not necessarily by choice but more by coincidence or fate.  Lexa glanced away to give the mother and her daughter a moment of privacy.  While she wished that she could leave the confines of their room she knew that the outside was worse than whatever discontent she was feeling by staying.  As Clarke and her mother broke apart Lexa could see the fresh tears glistening in Clarke’s eyes. 

“Mom, I … I don’t know what to say.” Clarke began before trailing off.

“It’s alright Clarke.  Let me have a look at you.” Her mother replied soothingly as she stepped back to take a look at her daughter.  “You’re all grown up now.”

Clarke chuckled softly before realizing that Lexa was still with them. “Mom, I want you to meet Lexa.”

Lexa rose and offered her hand to the other woman.

“I’m Abby.” Clarke’s mother’s grip was firm but her eyes were already studying Lexa.  It was the same sort of inquisitiveness that she had seen in Clarke’s eyes many times before but where Clarke regarded the world with a sense of curiousity and a hunger for understanding her mother was searching for threats.  Perhaps that was the nature of being a parent or perhaps it was a by-product of being an unwelcome invader.

“Lexa’s my girlfriend.” Clarke remarked casually.  What Clarke didn’t see was how her mother’s hand tightened briefly around Lexa’s as though out of a reflexive desire to crush the invader in Abby’s family.

“I see.” Abby replied curtly as she withdrew to continue regarding Lexa.

“Mom, it’s alright.  Lexa’s saved my life several times.  I trust her completely.”

Lexa could see that those were probably the wrong things to say to Abby and so she valiantly waded into the conversation to see if she could dig Clarke out of her hole. “Clarke is a remarkable woman but I think she’s exaggerating just a bit about me saving her life.  It was only the one time and Clarke has more than repaid the favour since then.”

“I’m sure.” Abby replied cautiously before turning her attention back to her daughter. “Clarke, honey, perhaps you could come with me to the Medbay.  There’s so much we need to catch up on.”

Clarke seemed torn between going with her mother and whatever obligations she felt to Lexa. 

“It’s alright Clarke.  I’ll just stay here.”

“You sure you’ll be okay here?”

Lexa gave Clarke a small smile. “It’s not exactly as though I’m going anywhere.”

“Okay.  I’ll be back soon.”

As Clarke and Abby left Lexa settled back into her rickety chair with a groan.  Her ribs and lip ached and she was pretty sure she had a black eye from the Skaikru’s hospitality.  What had ever possessed her to even consider staying in Arkadia was beyond her now.  She was well and truly in the frying pan with nothing but the fire waiting for her.  Compounding matters she was now Clarke’s ‘girlfriend’, whatever that meant to the Skaikru.  It didn’t help matters that she had kissed Clarke like it was the most natural thing in the world or that Clarke had kissed her back.

Shaking her head to clear her thoughts Lexa turned her attention to more practical matters.  Scouring the room she found a set of old clothes in the drawer and given that her outfit consisted of little more than torn and muddied rags she would take whatever she could get.  Setting to work with the rag, soap and water she was able to clean herself up to a mostly presentable state.  Pulling on the longsleeve shirt Lexa looked at herself in the mirror.  She was taken aback at her reflection, looking back at her was a young woman, looking a little the worse for wear, a little tired but very normal.  There was no war paint, no mask of the Heda, just Lexa.  She had forgotten what was like to see herself without the badges of her position … or its cares.

“What are you doing Lexa?” She asked the reflection. “What are you doing?”

Lexa gave her reflection a rueful shake of her head before she turned away and headed for the bed.  As he settled under the covers she could tell that the bed was far from being luxurious but to her weary frame it was more than she needed.  She was asleep moments after her head hit her pillow.

***

Lexa awoke in the darkness what felt like moments later.  She could sense that someone was in the room with her.

“Clarke?”  Lexa whispered softly as she flipped on the bedside light.

Clarke was sprawled uncomfortably half on a chair with her head on the side of their bed.  She blinked owlishly at Lexa.  “Is it morning?”

“Not even close.  What are you doing?”

“Trying to sleep.  I didn’t want to wake you.”

“So you decided to watch me sleep?”

Clarke’s gaze darted away from Lexa’s as her cheeks coloured.  Rather than teasing her about it Lexa drew back the cover and patted it the empty spot as she made some space for Clarke.

“Come on Clarke you’re entitled to half the bed.”

“I don’t know Lexa.  It seems a bit fast.”

“We’re a couple aren’t we?  It’s hardly fair to be bashful just because we have an audience!”

Clarke blinked and then mouthed a silent ‘Ohhhh’ as she realized that Pike’s men could still be listening in.  Without further ado she slipped her pants and sweater off leaving her with only her undershirt.  Lexa tried her best not to let her gaze linger as Clarke slipped under the covers beside her.

“I hope you don’t snore Clarke.” Lexa remarked as she turned off the light again.

As the two of them lay there staring up into the darkness Lexa felt Clarke’s hand seek out her own.  “I’m glad you’re here with me Lexa.”

“So am I Clarke.”

***

Breakfast was an uninspired affair consisting of a bowl of grain mash topped with a few berries accompanied with a cup of hot water.  The meal spoke to the Skaikru’s unfamiliarity and discomfort with the ground.  Rather than embracing the options for taste that the ground offered them they chose instead to have as bland a fare as possible.  Lexa suspected that it reminded them of home.

Looking around her Lexa started to get a sense of the Skaikru as a grey people – the colour of their clothes, their expressions, even their thoughts.  While the guard seemed to enjoy the exercise of naked force the rank and file seemed to keep their heads down as though ground down by the wheel of existence.  Whenever she met a normal Skaikru’s gaze they would glance away from her out of an unwillingness to engage with her or out of fear or guilt.  Lexa couldn’t help but wonder what had driven them to this state.

“Hey,” Clarke whispered to her from her position across the table from her.

Lexa glanced over to her and received a soft smile for her trouble.

“You may want to keep a low-profile Lexa.” Clarke remarked quietly.  “I don’t think they’ve seen a Grounder walking free that wasn’t trying to kill them.”

“Oh” Lexa turned her gaze back to her food. “Have your people always been like this?”

“Like what?”

“Taciturn, reserved, tired.  Take your pick.”

Clarke’s expression shifted into a frown and she glanced up and looked around her. “To tell you the truth I haven’t seen them like this before.  On the Ark people were always tired and worried but they didn’t seem to be so … ground down.  Maybe it’s the war?”

“What war Clarke?”

“The war with your people.”

“After the two initial battles we have given your people breathing room.  A protracted war of attrition does not serve our interests and we had hoped the environment and the climate would do what we could not.”

Clarke frowned at Lexa. “What do you mean by that?”

“The Skaikru were poorly prepared for the winter.  Our one success in the campaign was destroying their food supplies during the first year of their landing.  We assumed that starvation, disease, and winter would bring them to the negotiating table.”

“Clearly you assumed wrongly.”

Lexa’s next remark was interrupted by the arrival of two members of the Skaikru at their table.

“Clarke Griffin the lost princess of solitary confinement.” A dark skinned young woman remarked and plunked down beside Lexa.

Clarke blinked in confusion at the new arrival before turning her attention to the other new arrival.  Her frown indicated that she recognized the dark haired young man that had taken a seat beside her.  “You’re the guardsman from the drop ship.”

“Bellamy Blake, my smart mouthed friend is Raven Reyes.” The man remarked as he took his seat. “You’ve got quite the reputation already Clarke, you and your Grounder friend.”

“And just how exactly is that?” Clarke replied skeptically.

Raven snorted in amusement, “Let’s see: you survived the explosion of the dropship, you survived on your own for three years in a savage land, then out of nowhere you show up with your own Grounder bodyguard.  That’s quite the reputation already.”

“That’s nothing special.” Clarke shot back.  Lexa could feel her bristling against the characterization – if there was one thing that Clarke hated it was being put on a pedestal.

“Whatever you say Princess.” Bellamy laughed. “What about your silent friend here?  Does she even understand English?”

“Unlike you, Bellamy Blake, I don’t need to resort to insults when I’m feeling uncomfortable.” Lexa remarked smartly.  Clarke smirked into her bowl of mash.

“She speaks and she’s got a wicked streak.  Looks like I’ve got competition for the title of wittiest inhabitant of Arkadia.” Raven interjected in an effort to ease tensions.

“So Raven, what brings you and Bellamy to our table?” Clarke asked in an effort to direct the conversation out of the minefield that it had found itself in.

“Well Princess, Bellamy and I had to see if the rumors were true.  The entire town has been abuzz with speculation about your arrival yesterday.  You’re the only other member of the 100 to make it back to Arkadia.”

“Really?”  Clarke asked with a convincing display of curiousity.  Both she and Lexa knew perfectly well where the remaining 100 were.

“You didn’t happen to see any members of the Hundred out during your travels?”  Bellamy remarked before his lip twisted into a sneer. “Since you’re obviously so much better travelled than rest of us poor yokels.”

Lexa glanced between Clarke and Bellamy trying to gauge the source of the animosity between the two but from Clarke’s expression of frustrated confusion it was clear that she was as much in the dark about the cause as Lexa. 

“I haven’t seen anyone from the original hundred.  I thought you were all dead until now.” Clarke remarked irritably.  “What happened to you and Raven, Bellamy?”

“Oh you haven’t heard?  It’s quite the story.”

“And you do a crap job of telling it Bellamy” Raven interjected.

“And I suppose you can do a better job?”

“Just watch me.” Raven shot back before turning her attention back to Clarke and Lexa. “So, after the drop ship blew up the first grounders showed up and scared the survivors half to death.  Since they had no weapons and no way to communicate with the grounders they were all taken to shore and imprisoned.  The ones that tried to communicate with the guards got a sound beating for their troubles.  Eventually one of their leaders showed up, an ogre by the name of Tristan, and told them that they were been broken up and sent to different places to work as slaves.  Turned out that the Grounders understood them just fine the whole time.”

Lexa bristled at Raven’s characterization of the 100’s indentured servitude.  She hadn’t wanted to break up the group but her council had each demanded a share of the prisoners.  With no one to really argue the Skaikru’s case the motion had passed easily.  Lexa had sent Tristan out to enforce her will and thought little more on the happiness of her new citizens after that.  In retrospect it was a mistake that was coming back to haunt her.

“Bellamy gets separated from his sister and sent to the North.  He ends up being put work in the mines but Bellamy being a clever fellow,” Raven punctuated this with a poke at Bellamy which earned her a dirty look. “hatches a plan to escape.  He pretends to have died and so the Grounders decide to go and bury him.  He manages to dig himself out and escape which was a good thing for me.”

“How’s that?” Clarke asked her attention riveted to Raven’s tale.

“After you had all landed some of your wristbands had gone out of service but enough of you had survived that it confirmed to us that the ground was habitable.  Jaha and the rest set to work planning out how to get back to the ground and basically wrote off the 100 as having no way to communicate with us.  Your Mother wanted to know what had happened so she reached out to me as the only genius who could help her get to the ground.”

Bellamy interrupted the story with a derisive snort.  “So this ‘genius’ gets an old decommissioned pod that no one in their right mind would take.  Fixes it up enough to make it to the ground – not that it takes much to fall out of the sky.”

“Like you would know Blake.”

“And manages to crash.  She was just lucky that I was making my escape in the same general direction as where she fell.  Anyway, we managed to shack up in an old bomb shelter near Mt. Weather.  Raven got the radio up and running and let the Ark know what to expect when it landed.  As a result everyone was pretty well prepared … except those poor bastards from Farm Station.”

“I heard Pike mention that.”  Clarke said. “What happened?”

Bellamy paused.  “You know the local grounders, right?  They’re the bezerk ones that’ll eat you as soon as look at you.  The rest will just hunt like you were a dangerous animal but if you give them a bloody nose they’ll leave off.  Those Northern monsters are something else.  For them it’s all about breaking your spirit.  They like to play with you.  They’ll make you think that you’re making progress and they’ll tear it away from you and show exactly how your entire plan was just a sick joke that they cooked up for their own amusement.  My escape attempt was the third try.  The previous two times they were wagering on how far we would get.  Then they strung some of us up in the cold as an object lesson.  Pike is a hero for leading his people out of there.”

“Only half of them made it.” Raven added glumly.

“None of them would have made it without Pike.” Bellamy shot back angrily.

Clarke was about to speak again when she was interrupted by the arrival of a middle aged blonde woman.  Bellamy swiftly rose from his chair and snapped to attention.  Following his lead the rest of the table also rose.  Lexa considered the newcomer from her stiff disposition to her cold blue eyes and came away with the firm impression that she was dealing with a senior officer in the guard. 

“At ease Blake.” The new arrival rasped before turning her attention to Clarke. “You must be Griffin.”

“I am and you are?” Clarke responded cautiously.

“Major Byrne, your new CO.  Since you’ve been living with the grounders I’ll let you get away with that one.”  The major turned her attention to Lexa as though considering something distasteful. “You must be Griffin’s pet grounder.”

“Yes Major.” Lexa answered smartly.  Being Anya’s second not to mention existing in the rigid hierarchies of her people had made her well aware of when to be obedient and when not to be.  This was clearly a woman who expected deference.

“I see you’ve already broken her in Griffin.” Byrne said with a sly smirk.  “Good for you.”

“I’m not sure I understand.” Clarke replied in genuine confusion.

“She clearly understands who her betters are – something that you seem to be having trouble with … ‘Princess’.  Now I don’t know what sort of sly deal you pulled to get your pet this cushy position but you will show me the respect that I’ve earned.  Is that clear Griffin.”

“Yes ma’am.”

“You may actually be slower than the grounder Griffin but we’ll get you there in the end.  Now it’s my job to assess your abilities, which from where I’m standing, are pretty negligible.  Do not expect any kind of preferential treatment.  If you fail my tests I _will_ send you to work in the fields so fast that your head will be spinning.  Any questions?”

Clarke seemed about to say something but Lexa nudged her in the ribs.  “No ma’am.”

“Very good.  Meet me on the parade ground in five minutes.  Blake you can wipe the smirk off your face.  Just because you’re one of Pike’s current favourites doesn’t mean you weren’t a miserable excuse for a guardsman when you started.”  With that Byrne turned on her heel and left the four of them.

“And that’s the hurricane Byrne treatment folks.” Raven opined snidely.

“Where is the parade ground?” Lexa wondered out loud.

“Come on Grounder girl, I’ll show you.” Raven answered, seemingly taking pity on them.

As they left the mess hall Lexa got her first good look at Arkadia.  While she hadn’t seen much of the town the previous evening she had been able to make out the overall structure.  Most the town was arranged in a grid adjacent to the wreckage of the space station.  When they had entered Arkadia the first time Lexa hadn’t really been paying attention to the people but now that she had the luxury of time she could afford to consider her surroundings.  The Skaikru seemed to be divided, the civilians tended to speak in hushed voices and concentrate mostly on their work while the guards silently watched their surroundings with a nervous attention.  There was a third group within Arkadia that Lexa hadn’t noticed the first time – the Grounder prisoners.

One column of prisoners was winding its way down the road opposite Lexa and Clarke.  Lexa watched as the weary faces passed by her.  Each one sported its own set of cares born from imprisonment with the Skaikru.

“Are those Grounders Lexa?” Clarke asked from beside her.

“Yes.”

“I can’t believe they have so many of them.”

As they were marching one of the prisoners stumbled and fell to the ground.  Two of the guards immediately set to work herding the rest of the column to the side while the guard that seemed to be leading the column ambled over.  He stood over the fallen figure and gave it an experimental nudge in the ribs with his boot.  At the figure’s lack of movement he knelt down and grabbed the young woman by the back of her head and considered her blank visage before standing back up.

“All used up.” The guard remarked to one of his colleagues before casually spiting on the ground beside the dead woman.  “Form a burial detail and put her with the others before she starts to stink.”

Lexa watched the casual brutality with a considered distaste.  Part of her wanted to lash out at the Skaikru in a blind rage but she could feel calm blanketing her mind like a cold snow.  Clarke wasn’t as encumbered as Lexa and she made a move towards the prisoners.  Lexa placed a firm grip on Clarke’s arm and guided her towards where Raven was waiting for them.

“Lexa?!” Clarke hissed. “What the hell are you doing.”

“Using my brain.”

“You saw what they were doing!”

“Yes.” Lexa answered flatly.

“And?”

“And we have an appointment with the Major to keep.”

“That’s it?” Clarke burst out as she wrenched her arm out of Lexa’s grip.

“Trouble in paradise?” Raven asked as she walked up to them.

“What was that back there Raven?  Someone just dies in the street and it’s just business as usual?” Clarke turned her ire towards Raven who wilted under Clarke’s gaze.

“Clarke that’s something that we don’t ‘see’.  It is the way of things.”

“The way of things.” Clarke spat. “People dying in the street is the way of things in Arkadia.”

“It’s us or the Grounders. No offense Lexa but I’d rather it stays them than us quite frankly.”

“That’s just propaganda.”

Lexa could see that they were attracting the attention of both civilians and the guard.  “Raven may we have a moment?”

Lexa grabbed Clarke by her arm and shoved her roughly down an alley.  As soon as they were alone Clarke spun around to confront her.

“You’re just going along with this Lexa?  That’s a surprise.”

“You were making a scene Clarke.  You can’t afford to jeopardize our cover here.”

“Oh, so now the true Lexa reveals herself.”

“And just what is that supposed to mean Clarke?”  Lexa said, her voice dangerously soft.

“You’re just concerned with your own life.  You don’t care that one of your people just died in front of you so long as you can crawl away to safety.”  Clarke needled.  “You’re spineless.”

With a quick shove Lexa had Clarke shoved up against the wall of a nearby building.  “You have no right to talk to me like that Clarke.  It took everything I had to walk away from that but I know that there was nothing I could do.  A truth that seems to escape you.”

“Bullshit.  You sacrificed your lover for peace with the Azgeda and what about the Natblidas?  Just so many corpses to climb over on your road to the throne.”

Lexa could contain herself no longer and slapped Clarke.  “Don’t you dare bring Costia into this!  You have no moral high-ground.  Just because you couldn’t save Nyssa doesn’t mean that you have to go tilting at windmills every chance that you get!”

“Touched a nerve there Lexa?” Clarke snarled as she rubbed her hand against her now split lip.

Lexa stood back from Clarke with a low growl.  “If you want to die like an idiot then be my guest.  Go and add your corpse to the pile for all the good that it will do.”

Clarke shifted uncertainly her blind indignation abating for the moment.  “How can you be so calm about this Lexa?”

“You know me well enough to know how I feel about my people being made into slaves by yours Clarke.  How do you think I feel about having to bow and scrape to people like Byrne knowing that they are masterminding this atrocity?”

Clarke hung her head. “That was thoughtless of me.”

“Yes Clarke, it was.” Lexa sighed. “Come on.  We still have to go see Byrne.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So we're all caught up now. The next chapter is coming tomorrow.


	15. The Measure of a Grounder

"So, you finally made it.” Byrne remarked as they finally came straggling on to the parade ground.  Byrne frowned at Clarke’s split lip before continuing.  “I’ve been assigned to test your abilities.  First off, we’re going to be testing marksmanship.  After that we’re going to be testing your ability to evade us.”

Byrne motioned them over to a table with a single rifle sitting on the table and Clarke noted with some displeasure that it was an old bolt action weapon that had seen better days.  Worse still, the weapon was lacking the optics that she was so used to when using her own rifle.  As she picked up the weapon, she hefted it to get a sense of its balance before checking its sights which while simplistic were perfectly serviceable.

“Pike says that you’re some kind of markswoman so we’re going to see how good the two of you are.” Byrne said with a scoff as she handed Lexa a spotting scope and three rounds for the rifle.

Clarke could see exactly what Byrne was intending – if they had worked closely together for as long as Clarke had claimed they had then Lexa would have at least a rudimentary understanding of how to act as a spotter for Clarke.  Clarke could feel their cover unravelling before her very eyes.

“What’s the target ma’am?” Lexa asked smartly.

“Down the range there are a couple of dummies.  Hit one, if you can.”

Lexa gave Clarke a reassuring smile as she motioned Clarke towards the firing range.  The range was composed of a reddish clay and a good hundred metres down the range were a set of straw filled dummies dressed up in grounder clothing. 

As Clarke took the rounds from Lexa, she gave her a question look. “Do you know what you’re even doing?” Clarke whispered.

Lexa simply smiled enigmatically at her and motioned for her to assume a firing position.  As Clarke lay down on the ground Lexa helpfully slid a sandbag underneath her rifle before sitting lying down beside her and taking up the spotting scope.

As Clarke settled the rifle, she ran through firing a few dry rounds just in order to settle herself and get a feel for the weapon before loading any cartridges.  She was pleasantly surprised to find the weapon, though old, still seemed to be reliable enough.

“The first target is about 90 metres down range.” Lexa called out.  There was a short intake of breath from where Major Byrne was standing indicating to Clarke that Lexa had sighted the range perfectly.  “Wind feels to be about 5 kilometres from the left.”

Clarke was surprised by Lexa’s ability and moved to make a few minor corrections to where she was lining up her shot.  At such close range the wind was unlikely to play as much of a factor as it would when making longer shots. Cycling the bolt and slotting the round into position Clarke adjusted her bead on the first dummy before firing her first round.

Lexa didn’t even flinch beside her. “Hit centre torso.  About 5 centimetres to the right of dead on.  I told you to watch the wind Clarke.”

Clarke grumbled under her breath as she ejected the spent cartridge and slid home the new round.  Adjusting her aim on the target she let fly with her second round.

“Hit.  Dead centre.”

Sliding the final round into place Clarke let fly.

“Bullseye.”

Letting out a shaky breath Clarke settled the rifle down against the ground looked over at Lexa who was gracing her with a warm smile.

“Nicely done Griffin.  Apparently, you and your pet can shoot after all.” Byrne remarked sourly from behind them.  “I don’t think you’ll be smirking after the next test though.”

***

 Major Byrne had taken them outside of the wall until they were confronted with a verdant expanse of forest.  “This is where we do our advanced training.  It’s not entirely safe which serves our purposes nicely.”

Clarke couldn’t help but feel as Byrne was not only about to test their skills but also their loyalty.  Presenting her and Lexa with the perfect opportunity to go on the run seemed altogether too convenient.

“You’ll be expected to evade two squads of guards until nightfall.” Byrne continued. “I’ll lead one of the squads and Mr. Blake will be leading the other one.  The only rule is that you can’t kill.”

“I take it the guards assigned to this exercise will be extending us the same courtesy.” Lexa remarked carefully.

Byrne’s smile was all the answer that they needed.  “Don’t venture too far from Arkadia otherwise we might think that you’ve run off and react accordingly.”

“So, we don’t get any equipment?” Clarke asked, keeping her voice neutral.

“You’re supposed to be expert scouts so this shouldn’t present a problem.  By the way, your time already started and Bellamy’s squad is already in there so get going.”

While Byrne didn’t catch it, Lexa shot the Major a withering look as she turned towards the forest.  Clarke moved to follow her but Byrne caught her arm and held her back. “You’ll do a lot better in Arkadia if an accident were to befall your friend.  It would make a lot of people more comfortable about your loyalties.”

Clarke wrenched her arm out of Byrne’s grip. “You had better hope we don’t cross paths in there, _Major._   The forest is a dangerous place and anything could happen.”

Byrne scoffed at her but Clarke could detect just a hint of uncertainty under the scoff.

As Lexa and Clarke moved into the forest, they almost instinctively went silent, resorting to simple hand gestures to communicate.  Clarke marvelled at how easily Lexa blended in with the natural environment, moving like a lithe shadow through the dappled sunlight of the forest.  Clarke for her part was no slouch at woodcraft but it took more of a conscious effort and careful planning for her to blend in with her surroundings.

They had been moving for a good ten minutes before Lexa signalled for a halt and waved Clarke over to her. “This section of forest is unknown to me.” She whispered. “I’m going for a better vantage point up this tree.  You keep watch down here.”

Clarke nodded her assent and Lexa moved off to scale a nearby tree.  One of the first things that Clarke had been taught is while you never leave your partner you also don’t stay too close – that way if one person is spotted the other one can either escape or surprise their opponents.  Spotting a rocky outcropping near Lexa’s position Clarke made her way over and nestled down amongst the rocks.

The morning air smelt of dew and pine needles and under normal conditions Clarke found the scent to be invigorating but the pressures of being hunted prevented her from enjoying the experience.  As Clarke let herself acclimatize to the sounds of the forest, she slowly began to pick out telltale sounds that were out of place.  First it was the sounds of branches crackling and before long she could hear voices in the distance.  While Clarke was tempted to write off the Arkadians as clumsy fools she knew that it was safer to err on the side of caution.  The group making noise could just as easily be doing deliberately in order to drive Clarke and Lexa into the other group which was taking every effort to remain hidden.

Clarke’s musings were interrupted as Lexa came to rest beside her.  “There’s a patrol off to the east.  Making noise like branwadas.”

“And where’s the other patrol?”

Lexa gave her a smile as though pleased with her insight. “They are to the west.  It is an old tactic but a reliable one for hunting game.”

“What do you suggest Lexa?”

Lexa considered for a moment. “We can attempt to flank to the north which is closer to Arkadia.  Then we can attempt to break through the western patrol’s flank.”

“I have an idea that might solve our problems.”

***

Clarke’s idea was, ironically enough, a technique that the Grounders had used on her during her trip back from Grey Harbour.  Clarke had been in a daze after slaughtering the Azgeda and it was a miracle that she had not been killed by a wild animal.  Unfortunately, a group of Trikru hunters had singled her out for some sport hunting.  The Trikru had taken position in the trees and fallen upon Clarke as she had passed below them.  While they had had the drop on her in the initial attack they had made the fatal error of assuming she had been incapacitated.  As they moved off to regroup Clarke had managed to get her sidearm out and put a round through one of their shoulders.  The Trikru, being opportunistic hunters, realized that Clarke was too much effort and had taken their wounded man and had made themselves scarce.  Clarke had been happy to let them go.

Now she and Lexa were perched in the branches of an ancient oak tree waiting for part of the Skaikru patrol to pass beneath them.  Their plan hinged on the patrol being divided out into a skirmish line so that they would be facing no more than one or two guards.  The waiting was the worst part as they had to remain perfectly silent in the trees waiting for the guards to come to them.  Still, it was unlikely that this was a stratagem that Byrne would have considered.  Instead she would expect them to flee from the noisier of the two patrols into the waiting arms of their silent patrol.

Lexa interrupted her musings with a gentle tap and gestured down to the forest floor.  A pair of guards was cautiously making their way towards them with their stun sticks drawn.  It was clear that they hadn’t seen them and, much to Clarke’s amusement, they kept their eyes scanning the forest floor rather than looking up into the trees. 

A frown creased Lexa’s face and Clarke could tell that she was concerned that the guards would not pass under the tree.  Clarke gave her a soft nudge and shook her head.  They would just have to wait until the guards passed the tree, descend and then ambush them from behind. 

Clarke took a deep calming breath to still her heart not at all surprised that she could feel the familiar shock of adrenaline running through her veins.  By now she would have thought that she would have become inured to pre-combat jitters but even something as pedestrian as ambushing two unwary guards was enough to get her wired up.  Clarke couldn’t help wondering what her eighteen-year-old self would have thought of the hardened outrider that she had become.

Lexa interrupted her musings with a nudge and a smirk as she gestured downwards at the two guards.  They had both continued past the tree unawares.  Watching them head off into the forest Clarke was half tempted to just let them go but she knew that she couldn’t do that.  Byrne expected them to be frightened of her guards and for them to simply slink away back to Arkadia without engaging any of them would give them a reputation for cowardice.  Instead Clarke wanted the guards to respect her and Lexa or at the very least to fear them.

Shimmying down the tree after Lexa Clarke sized up the guards.  There were a man and a woman both of about average build.  Lexa pointed at Clarke and then at the woman indicating that she preferred to take the man.  Nodding swiftly Clarke sized up her opponent – the simplest solution would be to clobber the woman with a rock but the risked killing her which was something that Clarke wasn’t willing to countenance.  That left sneaking up behind the woman and putting her into a sleeper hold until she went unconscious.  There were only about a dozen things that could go wrong with that idea but Clarke dismissed them all as she snuck towards the woman. 

As she closed the distance Clarke was glad of Lexa’s advice that they ditch their footwear – travelling barefoot, while uncomfortable, gave them a measurable advantage in stealth.  Scaling carefully over a rock Clarke came up behind the woman without her even realizing that she was there.  A swift kick to the woman’s legs sent her toppling to the ground with a surprised grunt.  Mere seconds later Clarke was on her back with her arms wrapped around her neck.  The woman let out a confused gurgle as she struggled for a few seconds before going limp. 

Clarke looked up to see Lexa’s target fall to his knees.  It took her a moment to realize that Lexa had latched herself onto his back like a panther.  A moment later and the man was unconscious leaving Lexa to stand triumphantly.

“Nicely done.” Clarke whispered approvingly as she went for her target’s stun stick and radio. 

Lexa had picked up the man’s discarded stun stick and was examining it closely.  “A strange weapon.”

“It’s capable of stunning a person if you hit them with the tip.”  At Lexa’s quizzical look Clarke elaborated. “It carries a power cell that runs electric current through the tip.  It interrupts the body’s nervous system and it’s extremely painful.”

Lexa found her stick’s trigger and pressed it experimentally starting a little bit at the zap from the weapon’s capacitor. 

“We should get a move on back to Arkadia.” Clarke remarked.

Lexa turned back to Clarke and gave her a devilish smile.  “I have another idea.”

***

The collar of Clarke’s ‘borrowed’ guard uniform itched as she nudged Lexa along with her stun stick.  They had been fortunate enough that the female guard had been about Clarke’s size and had been wearing a hat.  It had been the work of a couple of moments to relieve their victim of her clothes and bind her and her partner. 

Now Clarke was dressed in her borrowed guard uniform, with her hat keeping her golden hair out of sight.  She had radioed Byrne that she found Lexa and was moving towards the forest edge.  With any luck Clarke would be able to blend in long enough for Lexa to get the drop on Byrne and teach her a lesson in underestimating her opponents.

As they emerged from the woods into the cleared land at the gate of Arkadia Clarke found Byrne and a group of three other guards lounging on a fallen log.  Giving Lexa another poke with the stun stick she moved towards them taking the trouble to keep Lexa in front of her so as to obscure her own face.

As they approached the guards rose from the sitting positions and moved towards them.

“Nice work Mel.” Byrne said as they approached.

Clarke replied with a grunted ‘Ma’am’ taking care to inflect her voice so as not be immediately recognized.  With a rough shove Clarke propelled Lexa towards the guards and moved around them with her head down.  Fortunately, Byrne was more interested in crowing over her victory than in Clarke.

“So, your girlfriend left you out to fend for yourself.” Byrne laughed.

Lexa looked up at her with a smirk just as Clarke came up behind Byrne.  “I think she might be closer than you think.”

“What’s that supposed to …”  Byrne’s words were cut off by Clarke wrapping the length of the stun stick around her throat and pulling her back towards her.

“Easy Major, I’ve got you dead to rights.” Clarke murmured as Byrne began to struggle.  With a dismissive shove she pushed Byrne away from her before the other woman had a chance to do something stupid.  “So, do we pass … Ma’am?”

Byrne turned to face Clarke just as Clarke pulled the hat off to unmask her ruse. A setting of warring emotions ranging being impressed to simple anger flitted across Byrne’s face before she smirked at Clarke.  “You’re a sly devil Clarke.  How did you beat Mel and Steven?”

“They didn’t look up and ended up walking right by us.”

“Well played, you and your grounder friend did a good job.  I reserve the right to a rematch though, Clarke.”

“Yes, ma’am.” Clarke replied carefully, having no desire to go through the same rigmarole again.

“Blake, you and Roma go find Steven and Mel.  You can tell them that they’re on double duty for the next week for letting them through.  In the mean time the two of you can come back to my office and we can get your duty schedule sorted out.”

***

Clarke awoke in a cold sweat, beside her Lexa stirred with a soft groan before her cloudy green eyes came to rest on Clarke’s.

“Another nightmare?” Lexa asked, her voice muzzy with sleep.

Clarke gave her a slight nod as she tried to banish the dream.  It was all too vivid and it had been the same recurring nightmare ever since they had settled into their routine over a month ago.  The dream began innocently enough with Clarke standing guard on the wall of Arkadia – a duty she found herself posted to at least three times a week.  As she stood there, she realized that Lexa was missing and so she went to find her.  She almost always found Lexa in the square of Arkadia, bloody and beaten by a jeering crowd of Skaikru.  Someone, sometimes Major Byrne or even her mother, would hand her a pistol and tell her to demonstrate her loyalty by killing the grounder spy and to her horror she would take the weapon and press it to Lexa’s temple.  The dream ended one of two ways with Clarke killing Lexa or killing herself.

With a sigh Clarke smoothed her sweat slicked hair back and checked her father’s watch.  It was only two in the morning and far too early to get up.  That left her with the unenviable prospect of attempting to go back to sleep. 

Clarke started momentarily as Lexa began to rub her back.  The two of them had fallen into a casual sort of intimacy born of close proximity.  What surprised Clarke the most was that they had never been intimate over their month in Arkadia.  There had been moments when a casual kiss had deepened into something more but something always seemed to interrupt them or one of them would end up getting cold feet, remembering that they were being watched.  Clarke could tell though that the metaphorical pot was reaching a boiling point and she didn’t want to guess whether she would be jumped by Lexa or end up jumping on her.

“How are you doing?”

“As well as I could be, I suppose.  You know I really should be asking you that question, the folks in Arkadia aren’t exactly welcoming to grounders.”

“Well Raven’s nice enough and the rest of the guard respect me.”

Clarke snorted with involuntary laughter. “You mean they’re afraid of you.”

Shortly after they had joined the guard officially the rest of the group had conspired to ‘haze’ Lexa by getting her drunk-on moonshine.  Predictably it hadn’t ended well for the guards as Lexa had ended up drinking most of them under the table.  One fellow had become belligerent with his drink along the way and at the end of the night Lexa had been sporting a fresh set of bruises and her drinking buddy had ended up in the infirmary.  The rest of the guard were all very careful around her after that.

Clarke on the other hand did not enjoy the same reputation.  Rather she was treated with a sort of suspicion as though people weren’t really sure what to make of her.  Other members of the guard tended to be respectful but distant as though trying and failing to gauge just where her loyalties lay.  It was no secret that she was being sponsored by Pike which made most people suspect that she was a spy but the fact that she had thrived in a world that terrified most Skaikru made everyone leery of her.

There was also the matter of her mother and Kane to consider.  It hadn’t escaped Clarke’s notice that the two were an item and she didn’t begrudge her mother the happiness that their relationship brought.  Her mother’s efforts to ‘make up for lost time’ were, strangely enough, grating to her.  Her mother had developed the annoying habit of diminishing Clarke’s ideas or opinions and generally treating her as though she were the teenage girl that had left the Ark three years ago.  Clarke had been surviving in the wilds of the ground for two years on her own and it had been enough to help her to realize how much she valued her independence.  Being drawn into the close confines of Arkadia and its social expectations was slowly suffocating her.

One of those social expectations had horrified her when her mother had casually asked if she had decided when she was going to have a child.  Not only did she completely ignore the fact that she was in a relationship with Lexa but it had been the fact that she brought it up as though discussing the weather.  After Clarke had managed to extricate herself from that awkward conversation without blowing up at her mother she had gone to Kane to ask him about it.  To her horror she had found that there was a standard policy that all Arkadian women were expected to have at least two children in order to keep the population up.

The issue of forced pregnancy wasn’t the only thing that frustrated her about living in Arkadia, there were the grounders to consider as well.  Ever since they had witnessed the young grounder woman die in front of them, Clarke had been stewing in a cocktail of anger and impotence.  The confined state of the grounders was abhorrent to Clarke not only for how it stood as an obstacle to any kind of reconciliation with the grounders but also the existential horror of it – to consume someone else’s life, labour, and liberty to sustain her own sickened her.  To make matters worse she couldn’t even speak out, as doing so would bring unwanted attention to both her and Lexa.  Slowly but surely a seed of self loathing and a hatred of her own people was growing within her.

“You’ve got the look again Klarke.”  Lexa remarked as she rolled Clarke’s name of her tongue in that way that Clarke found so endearing.

Clarke glanced down at Lexa snuggled up beside her and found herself wondering how she came to be in this situation with Heda of the Kongeda.  Clarke had the sneaking suspicion that a part of Lexa enjoyed just being Lexa instead of Heda.

“I was just thinking back on our month here in Arkadia.”

“And?”

“I have to say that I’m ready to go,” Clarke said before she remembered that she had an audience. “To Raven Rock.”

The slip didn’t go unnoticed by Lexa and it was obvious from Lexa’s expression that she knew exactly what Clarke meant.  Her expression reflected her surprise at Clarke’s pronouncement.

“I thought you would have been happy to be back with your people Clarke.”

“I _am_ happy to be back with them.” Clarke replied but her face was telling Lexa an entirely different story.

“Come on Clarke.” Lexa let out a sigh as she got out of bed and started getting dressed.  “Let’s go for a walk.”

Clarke grumbled under her breath but followed suit.

Their position with the guard did have some privileges including the ability to wander Arkadia at all hours.  The night was brisk and smelt faintly of wet moss.  Lexa took Clarke’s hand and the they made their way out to a somewhat secluded hill within the camp.

Selecting a large rock Lexa sat down and motioned for Clarke to join her.  “We’re alone Clarke so you can answer my question truthfully.”

As Clarke sat down beside her she wetted her lips and tried to think of way to begin.  In the end an elegant way of phrasing her feelings eluded her so she gave up. “I don’t like it here.”

Lexa’s eyebrow arched skeptically.  “They are your people.  They raised you.  Surely that means something?”

“It should shouldn’t it but it’s not enough.”  The look of confusion in Lexa’s eyes summed up just how alien that concept was. “Lexa you’ve done things that you’ve thought were necessary right?”

“Of course.”

“What if you took a journey to a far away land and found something that made everything that you had thought was necessary look trivial by comparison.  What would you do?”

Lexa looked away from Clarke and seemed to think about the question for several long moments. “It would depend on just how ground-breaking this new idea was and what I had to give up to make it a reality.  In the end I suppose I would be forced to accept my new reality and find a way to reconcile my past with it.”

“Well the people here didn’t do that.”

“What do you mean?”

“They’re still living like they’re on the Ark.  They come down to a world filled with wonder, with other people and instead of thanking their good fortune for something so wonderful they act as if they would have rather found a barren lump of rock.”

“I don’t understand.”

“Arkadia is built one central conceit – that they have a right to exist at the expense of everything around them.”

“You could very easily make that argument about any society or any one for that matter.” Lexa replied carefully.

“People and societies have a right to exist so long as their existence does not unduly infringe the rights of others, at least that was what Mara always told me.”

“A wise philosophy but did she have an opportunity to practice it?”

“I’d like to think so.  The problem with Arkadia unlike the Ship Clan or the Kongeda is that it’s fundamentally built around arrogance.  The belief that everything exists to serve its needs.  It might have been reasonable and even necessary when we believed that we were the last remnant of humanity but now it rings hollow.  I realize now that clinging to this belief reflects a characteristic that I hadn’t recognized before.”

“And just what is that?”

“Childishness.”

Lexa seemed taken aback but Clarke held up her hand.  “Think about the difference between a child and an adult.  A child considers only their own needs without an understanding of the world around them whereas an adult considers the world around them and just how they and their actions fit into it.”

Lexa considered Clarke’s words.  “That is a very astute way of looking at Arkadia’s situation.  Do you not feel that you have a duty then to take your people and lead them into adulthood?”

Clarke gave her a sad smile.  “It always comes back to duty with you doesn’t it Heda?”

“Not always, but often.  You’re avoiding the question.” Lexa chided gently.

Clarke took a deep breath and looked up into the stars.  “Maybe … someday I’ll take up that responsibility.  For now,” Clarke turned to look Lexa in the eyes. “I’ve got a responsibility to you – to get you back to your throne.”

“But first to Raven Rock.”

Clarke regarded her suspiciously.  “That’s something that we’ve been dancing around for the past month.”

“It is.” Lexa replied grimly; all traces levity gone from her face.

“You know about it and it’s location despite never having been there?”

“Just as I suspect you do.  Not to mention the fact that I know that I could find my way there blindfolded.”

“But you don’t know how you know that?”

“Correct.”  For the first time since Clarke had known her Lexa looked genuinely afraid.  “Clarke, how is this possible?  How do I know something that I shouldn’t know?  Why do I want to go somewhere that I know could likely lead to both of our deaths?”

Clarke was at a loss herself.  Whenever she thought of Raven Rock, she got a warm sort of endorphin rush as though she was going home.  It was swiftly followed by a longing to go there.  After the experience all Clarke could feel was a deep existential dread that something was desperately trying to draw them towards Raven Rock.

“Clarke!” Clarke practically jumped out of her skin as she realized that Lexa hadn’t said her name.  Looking out over the field she saw Bellamy walking towards them.

“Do you think he heard us?” Clarke hissed under her breath.

Lexa gave her head an imperceptible shake as she regarded Bellamy suspiciously.  “What brings you out here Mr. Blake?”

“Good morning to you too Grounder Girl.”  Bellamy quipped before turning his attention to Clarke.  “Pike wants to talk to you.  It’s time to go to Raven Rock.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N And with that we put Arkadia behind us. At last we're off to Raven Rock with Raven making a cameo appearance because, lets face it, there's no way you can't go to Raven Rock without Raven. The next chapter is done and I'll probably post it around mid July.  
> Thoughts & constructive criticism?


	16. An Unkindness of Ravens

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter may be uncomfortable for some viewers.  
> That tag about Your Mileage May Vary Nightmare Fuel - that's this chapter.

Pike’s midnight council of war had been a hushed affair involving Clarke, Bellamy, a woman named Hannah Green and, much to her own surprise, Lexa.  It had turned out that Kane had announced that he was getting ready to permanently assign one of the councillors to preside over the guard and the defense of Arkadia.  Pike had taken that as his opportunity to demonstrate how useful and capable he would be in the role and the way to do that was to secure Raven Rock.

Lexa had played politics long enough to know that Charles Pike that the guard wasn't going to be enough for him and that this position was merely a stepping stone to ruling Arkadia.  One look at Pike told her that an Arkadia under his rule would be an expansionary thorn in her side that would soon need to be eliminated.  After having seen what the Arkadians did to her people she knew that she would have no trouble bringing the full force of the Kongeda down upon their heads in a bloody crucible.  It would leave the Kongeda beaten and bruised but the Skaikru would fair much worse.  The best that they could hope for would be a life of slavery.  Lexa could feel her bile rising at the prospect of more death and destruction but she kept her face schooled into an impassive mask throughout the conference.

Pike’s plan was to have Hannah lead a 20 man team including Bellamy, Clarke, Lexa and Raven to the complex.  Once there they would evaluate the site as a long term outpost and bring back whatever technology that they could find.  It would be a two day journey to the site on foot through some of the most dangerous territory surrounding Mount Weather.

After that brief discussion the meeting had broken up and they had returned to their room.  A grim silence had settled over Clarke as she turned her back to Lexa and huddled in their bed.  Neither of them had gotten any more sleep that night.  Lexa knew that Clarke was just as worried about Raven Rock as she was.  The complex was like a maw that was waiting to devour them and the worst part was that they were going there willingly.

That was how they came to be picking their way over fallen tree branches and doing their best to guide a noisy party of Skaikru around the perimeter of Mount Weather.

Someone to the rear of the column stumbled and went down in a clatter of gear and curses.

“Someone shut that idiot up.” Clarke growled under her breath as she turned towards the back of the column.

“And just what do you want me to do about it?” Lexa snapped back.  It was beneath her to snap at Clarke but she was just as tired and worried as Clarke.  She for one had no desire to be taken away to Mountain to be bled dry … or worse.

“Why don’t you kill him?  That’s the fourth time one of those idiots has made enough noise to bring the entire Mountain down on us.” Clarke hissed. 

“I’m sure that would go over well with your Skaikru friends.” Lexa needled.

“They aren’t …” Clarke trailed off as Hannah approached them.

“Aren’t what?” The new arrival asked casually.

“Aren’t my friends ma’am.” Clarke replied smartly.

Hannah frowned at her as though she were an impudent child. “Let’s walk and talk Griffin.  You can bring your Grounder friend along too since it’s best she hear this as well.”

Lexa moved to come abreast of Hannah as she picked her way over the uneven ground.

“Alright Griffin, I’m going to say this now so that we’re under no illusions.  I don’t like you.”  Hannah remarked calmly, as though she was discussing the weather.  “I don’t like how you think you’re better than us, how you connived to get this job with your pet grounder, and I especially don’t like your grounder.  I think that you both belong with the rest of the grounder prisoners.”

Clarke’s mouth had dropped open in shock and Lexa was fighting to keep her own expression neutral.

“I think you’re a coward Griffin.  You ran away from your responsibilities and came back when it was advantageous to you.  You’ve got information that we need which means that we need you, but once this business with Raven Rock is done then you’re done.  You think on that.”

“Thank you for your candour … ma’am.” Clarke ground out.

Hannah sniffed at her.  “Now keep your mouth shut and stay on point.”

As Hannah turned away from them Lexa could here Clarke muttering under breath.  “Not if I deal with you first.”

Lexa regarded Clarke and there was a moment of understanding that passed between them.  Hannah was not going to be coming back from Raven Rock.

***

They had set up camp in a glade midway between Arkadia and Raven Rock and a safe distance away from Mount Weather.  After the cold looks that most the Skaikru party had given them Clarke had set up their camp a little way from the main group while Lexa had started a fire.  They had dined on some dried meat and oatmeal mixed with a few berries that Lexa had managed to forage.  Clarke had settled down across the fire from Lexa and was busily cleaning the rifle that she had been given.  For her part Lexa had to content herself with an old sword that had clearly been salvaged after a battle with her people.  Raven had been kind enough to provide her with a whetstone so now she was able to sharpen the weapon.

Letting the mindless movement of polishing the whetstone up and down the length of the blade sooth her, Lexa stared into fire and let her mind wander.  Inevitably her thoughts ended up centring on Clarke – that lovely enigma of a Skai girl.  Lexa had found herself falling for Clarke ever since that evening back at Tondisi.  It was strange, she reflected, that she had found herself attracted to the other woman even before she knew much about her.  Now that she had lived through Clarke’s memories she understood the other woman a bit better but she still managed to retain an aura of mystery.  What had endeared her the most to Lexa was her simple acceptance of Lexa despite having lived through her memories.

Oddly enough Lexa was at a bit of a loss about what to do next, assuming they didn’t meet their end at Raven Rock.  After Costia she had never given much thought to having a long-term relationship with someone – a fact that no doubt gladdened Titus’s heart.  Her old teacher would be aghast at her relationship with Clarke and would no doubt object strenuously, perhaps even violently.  Lexa realized that she would need to watch him closely when they got back to Polis and then she stopped herself.  A sudden realization had stolen over her – while Clarke didn’t seem particularly inclined to stay with the Skaikru she might still feel a deep loyalty to the Tseekru. 

The traders from beyond the Norfolk badlands were a mystery that the twelve clans had ignored for a long time and Lexa was beginning to realize that that had probably been a mistake.  They had always come across as innocent enough in the desire to trade with her people but there had always been something wrong with them.  It was as though they were only one step removed from the Maunon with their tall ships and cannon.  Their weapons were the equivalent of those of the Maunon and if Clarke was anything to go by, they were as comfortable with the ways of the forest as they were with the technology of the old world.  That was a combination that no other group on the ground could really lay claim to.

Lexa’s musings were cut short as Raven plunked down beside her.

“Hey there Grounder Girl.” Raven said by way of greeting.  “Clarke.”

Clarke looked up at her and smiled before turning her attention back to cleaning her rifle.  “What brings you over to our end of the camp Raven?”

“The air over there with Pike’s goons and that bitch queen Green, was getting a bit thick.  They started going on about how Raven Rock was going to make Arkadia great again.”  Raven remarked sourly.  “Frankly I’m amazed how deluded they can be sometimes.”

That was something Lexa had always liked about Raven – her pragmatism and level headedness.  “You better be careful Skaigeda otherwise people might start thinking that you like our company more than that of your own people.”

“Let ‘em talk.”  Raven replied sassily.  “At the end of the day they need my genius more than I need their politics.”

“So Raven, what do you think we’re going to find at Raven Rock?”  Clarke asked, having set down her rifle.

“Probably an old bunker full of juicy tech.  Maybe some guns.”  Raven fantasized.  “Beyond that I don’t think there’ll be much there.”

“No nuclear missiles?” Clarke joked, in what Lexa considered to be poor taste.

“God I hope not.  Can you imagine what Pike’s cronies would do with a nuclear missile?”

“Blow themselves up?” Lexa remarked in complete deadpan.

Raven let out a short bark of laughter. “If only, GG, if only.”

Clarke’s face had grown serious as she looked into the fire. “You know it’s going to be dangerous right Raven?”

Raven looked up at her with a nervous mien. “You’ve been there before and you survived.”

Like someone had flicked a switch, Lexa’s mind began formulating a series of innocuous and completely alien responses to Raven’s question. “We have and it was pretty dangerous.  There were a bunch of sentry turrets outside the bunker and they were pretty accurate.”

Raven frowned. “Well we’ve got the means to blow up the turrets thanks to yours truly.”

“There were also other things lurking inside the mouth of the bunker.” Clarke added. “Humanoid things.”

“You mean like people?” Raven asked.

“I mean they looked like people but they didn’t move like people.” Clarke elaborated.

Raven looked at her seriously before breaking into laughter. “Oh I get it.  You’re just telling your ‘old tracker ghost stories’ and seeing if you can have a laugh at my expense.”

Clarke smirked at her. “Had you going for a moment didn’t I?  The turrets are real but there are no bogeymen waiting inside for us.”

“Well played, Griffin, well played.” Raven concluded as she rose from her seat.  “Well I need to go get my beauty sleep before we have another exciting day of trekking through the wilderness.

As Raven moved to leave Lexa caught her arm.  “We’ll watch out for you while we’re there Raven.”

Raven gave her grateful nod. “Thanks GG that honestly means a lot to me.”

Lexa returned her nod as she let her go.

Once Raven was out of earshot she turned her attention back to Clarke. “You weren’t joking about those figures were you Clarke?  I remember them too.”

***

The first sign that something was wrong came midway through the second day of marching towards Raven Rock.  The bulk of the group had settled down to eat lunch and Hannah had instructed them to scout ahead and make sure that everything was safe for the rest of the group.  Clarke and Lexa had continued on towards Raven Rock when they stumbled across a clearing.

Standing in the middle of the clearing was a dark shape and they both went still when they had spotted it.  Skirting around the clearing they realized that the shape was both humanoid and completely still.  Taking a chance, they had emerged carefully from the underbrush with their weapons drawn. 

As they advanced the shape gradually resolved itself into a perfect human statue.  What had struck Lexa was the look of utter terror that was etched onto the statue’s face.  It was as though he had been petrified into this form and had been gruesomely aware of just what was happening to him.

Clarke was the one to break the silence and she circled around the statue. “Well we’re clearly getting close.”

“That is quite the statue.” Lexa remarked as she studied the intricate detail on the statue’s coat she could feel her blood start to run cold as a memory from her past slowly began to slowly resolve itself. 

Lexa reached out a hand to touch a perfectly formed button on the statue’s coat when Clarke caught her hand. “That’s not a statue Lexa.”

Lexa looked up at her questioningly before following Clarke’s pointed finger.  Flaring out from the base of the statue were billions of tiny black tendrils that had woven themselves through the grass to create the glade.  In point of fact they were both standing on the tendrils.

“The plant?”  Lexa breathed.

“I’m not so sure it was a plant Lexa.”

Lexa let out a shuddering breath. “So that could have been us?”

“It very well may still _be_ us.”

“Do you think he’s still alive?”

“I hope not.”

Clarke turned away from the statue and gave Lexa’s arm a squeeze. “What ever created this trap certainly wants us alive, at least for the moment.”

As they walked back to the edge of the glade Lexa glanced back over her shoulder and to her horror the statue was now reaching out its hands towards her beseechingly.  Recoiling in terror she stumbled back over the threshold of the glade and fell flat on her back.

“It moved!”  Lexa gasped.  “Clarke, it moved!  How?!”

Clarke had turned back and had seen the same thing.  Her face was lined with fear as she pointed the rifle at the statue but the statue made no further movement.  Satisfied that the statue wasn’t going to follow them Clarke helped Lexa back to her feet and together they had hurried out away from the glade as fast as they could.

If only the memories were so easily left behind.

***

They had, of course, told no one of the glade.  It was not because they hadn’t wanted to but because they had had no choice.  When they had returned, they had both glibly reported the way ahead was clear even though parts of them were screaming to tell the others what they had witnessed and to run from what awaited them ahead.  Like a parade of cattle with their attendant Judas goats the party continued on towards Raven Rock.

They reached it in the early evening.  The entrance was far from overgrown and was dominated by a quartet of stubby turrets sitting on the cracked pavement of an ancient parking lot.  Behind the turrets the entrance arch was blocked by a pair of massive steel doors.  They knew that the turrets were far from as dead and that they commanded an excellent field of fire.

Hannah settled the group into a circle as she explained her plan. “Alright, it’s no surprise that there are turrets out there, that’s why we’ve got the explosives.  The bulk of the team will hold back here.  Griffin, you and Lexa will take half the explosives and flank around to the left.  Blake and Simmonds will flank around the right with the other set.  We’ll open up on the turrets and draw their attention away while the four of you use the explosives on them.  Clear?”

Lexa glanced over at Clarke and from the grim set of Clarke’s mouth she could tell that Hannah had saddled them with the most dangerous job in the operation.  Lexa let out a sigh as she unslung her pack and took the explosives from Raven.  The explosives themselves were a set of cylindrical containers contained within a simple satchel and ignited by a combustion fuse.  Raven had briefed the team on their use that morning as well.

Clarke slung her own satchel charge and motioned for Lexa to follow her as she hunkered down and stayed in the treeline.  The proceeded silently until they had come to a point that was abreast of the turrets.  At another hand signal from Clarke they lay down upon the ground.

“How long is the fuse on these?”  Lexa asked worriedly as she set about checking over her charge.

“Raven said that it’s about a sixty seconds.”

“So we just throw the charges at the turrets and hope for the best?”

“That’s the idea.” Clarke replied distractedly as she set to work igniting a length of slow match.  Lexa watched as she breathed gently on the length of braided cotton to nurse the glowing end to life. 

“You’ve done this before haven’t you?”

“Blown up robotic turrets?  I can’t say that I have.” Clarke said with a cheeky smirk. At Lexa’s exasperated glare she relented. “I’ve handled explosives before if that’s what you mean.”

“Any tips?” Lexa asked as Clarke passed her the length of lit slowmatch after having ignited another length for herself.

“Don’t blow yourself up.” Lexa snorted with repressed laughter. “I’m serious.  If it comes down to a choice between your safety and making sure the payload is delivered you always pick your own safety.”

“So I light it, throw it, and take cover?”

“Basically.  I’ll take the further turret.”  Clarke cursed softly as she readied the charge and checked over her slow match.  “There are only about a hundred things that can go wrong with this.”

“Clarke.” Lexa whispered as she laid her hand on Clarke’s shoulder.  Clarke looked back at her and gave her a sad smile.

“I know, Lexa.”

Lexa’s next words were cut off as gunfire echoed across the clearing.  The Skaikru back in the treeline had opened up on the turrets.  For their part the turrets sprang to life with blinding speed and began to spray down the treeline with high calibre rounds.

Lexa was on her feet in a moment following Clarke.  There was only a 10 metre stretch of open ground that they had to cover before they could throw their explosives. 

Lexa’s heart thundered in her ears as she dashed towards the turret praying all the way that the turret wouldn’t notice them.

Clarke came to halt before her and was already lighting the fuse on her own charge.  Lexa fumbled the satchel off her shoulder and touched the slowmatch to the fuse.  It caught with a hiss and a rush of smoke.  Not wasting any time Lexa hurled the charge towards the turret and watched dumbly as the satchel arced towards the turret.

As though sensing the approaching charge Lexa’s turret swiveled around to face her.  Time seemed to slow down as the barrel of the twenty-millimetre foreshortened until it was lined up on her. 

Lexa was bowled off her feet as the Clarke rammed into her and sent them tumbling to the ground.  Moments later the world erupted into smoke and flame.

***

The first thing that Lexa was aware of was a ringing in her ears as she blinked her stunned eyes open.  Clarke was lying squarely atop of her stirring blearily.  Lexa’s own voice came out as a faraway murmur.  Giving Clarke a shake Lexa tried to motion for the other woman to check herself over.  After a brief show of patting herself down Clarke made an okay sign to Lexa.  The slap that followed came as a shock to Lexa.

“Do you have some sort of deathwish standing there like that?!” Clarke yelled at her unnecessarily loudly.  “Don’t do that to me ever again Lexa!”

Lexa touched a hand to her stinging cheek before hanging her head.  She had acted stupidly and it had almost cost her her life.  Clarke surprised her again by wrapping her up in a tight hug.

“Don’t do that to me Lexa.” Clarke repeated more quietly.

“I’m sorry Clarke.” Lexa replied softly as she clung to the other woman.

“Well, I hate to interrupt this tender display of affection but we’ve got a bunker to breach.” Bellamy drawled as he came up beside them.

Clarke straightened up immediately and brushed at her eyes absently.  It only served to smudge her soot covered visage even further.  Lexa imagined she looked about the same and her nose was inundated with the scent of sulfur and burning metal. 

Looking around her she saw that the turrets were burning away merrily and that the parking lot was now covered with pieces of burning debris.  Bellamy’s partner was conspicuously absent.

“What happened to Simmonds?” Lexa asked despite already having a good idea.

“He ended up eating about a hundred rounds.  I was just lucky enough he had thrown his charge before he ended up being shot.”  Bellamy’s casual dismissal of the death of his partner was shocking to Lexa.  It was not so much the fact that Bellamy wasn’t bemoaning the death of a fellow warrior but more so because, beneath Bellamy’s casual veneer, there was a sense of satisfaction?

Lexa shook her head in surprise but before she could look away Bellamy’s gaze had come to rest on her and in that moment, they shared an understanding that Lexa knew something that she had no business knowing.  The moment was broken as Clarke helped Lexa to her feet and Bellamy turned away from them and headed towards the entrance to the bunker.

Hannah and the rest of the Skaikru team arrived moments later.  They too were missing a few members.

“Report.” Hannah commanded brusquely.

“The turrets are destroyed.  Simmonds didn’t make it.”  Clarke answered her.

“We had a few casualties.  Jackson is looking after the wounded.”

Looking around the group Lexa was pleased to see that Raven had made it along with the other engineer who had been accompanying them.

“Alright, we press on into the bunker then.” Hannah ordered.

Clarke caught the other woman’s arm for a moment.  “Recommend we keep the non-combat personnel outside the bunker, ma’am.”

Hannah studied Clarke with a dismissive glare before yanking her arm free. “There are no non-combat personnel here Clarke, only heroes and cowards.”

As Hannah was walking away from them Clarke amended her statement. “Led by an idiot.”

Hannah spun around on Clarke, her face red with anger. “What did you say to me?”

Clarke’s rifle was pointed menacingly at Hannah’s midsection.  “I said you’re a fool for wasting trained personnel on unknown territory.”

Lexa tightened her grip on her sword as the other guards slowly moved their weapons towards Clarke.  Hannah’s face warped from an expression of anger into a thin smile. “So you’re volunteering to go in first and scout it out for us?  How brave of you Clarke.”

Clarke frowned at Hannah, clearly not expecting that response.

“Take your grounder bitch and get moving Griffin, that’s an order.” Hannah barked at her.  “You go in first and if you’re lucky you can eat a bullet so I don’t have to waste mine on you.”

Clarke sighed and grimaced as one of the other guards grabbed her rifle away from her with a smirk.  None of them bothered to take away Lexa’s sword.

Turning away from the Skaikru behind them Clarke and Lexa made their way over to massive steel double door that was one of the entrances to Raven Rock.  Above the door was a plaque proclaiming ‘Site R – Raven Rock Mountain Complex.’

Clarke had gone over to were Bellamy was standing and Lexa moved to join them as they stared at a raised metal panel set into the wall.  The panel was black and featureless, offering no hint of what it needed to open the door.

“Any ideas on how to open the door before Hannah decides to shoot you in the back?” Bellamy joked.

Clarke didn’t say anything as she reached out to touch the panel.  With a thunk of withdrawn bolts and a clank of machinery the doors began to open outwards.

Lexa recoiled in surprise along with Clarke and Bellamy.  Waiting behind the doors was a dimly lit concrete tunnel leading deeper into the facility.  The three of them sucked in a breath as the stared down the tunnel.

“What are you waiting for Griffin?  Move it!” Hannah called from behind them.

Clarke spat out a curse as she moved towards the tunnel and Lexa followed her.

“Good luck.” Bellamy shouted after them.  She couldn’t tell if he was mocking them or being genuine.

The tunnel sloped downwards into the bowels of the mountain and was easily wide enough to accommodate two old world vehicles.  Their footfalls and the telltale drip of water were the only sounds that echoed from the tunnel.  There was no sign of what had happened to the occupants of the bunker until they reached the next set of blast doors.

As Clarke went over to the console by the blast doors something at the base of the door caught Lexa’s eye.  Wedged under the door, coated in a patina of oil and carbon scoring, was an arm.  It was not a human arm by any stretch of the imagination nor had it ever been human, instead it was an intricately complicated assembly of metal armouring, hydraulic pistons, and delicate micro-circuitry designed to function like a human arm.  Each one of the digits tapered off into a wickedly sharp, narrow, triangular blade.  Lexa had seen something like that before – on the hand of the Homarippa.

Lexa stood up with a sharp inhalation startling Clarke away from the console.  “What is it?”

Lexa simply pointed down at the hand.  Clarke’s face went pale as she saw what Lexa was pointing at.

They had a very simple choice ahead of them – open the door and confront whatever horror was lurking on the other side or turn around and be shot by Hannah.  Only there wasn’t a choice.  A force that defied Lexa or Clarke’s willpower was urging them onwards and it wouldn’t accept retreat as an option.

“We’re going to get through this Lexa.” Clarke whispered with a confidence that Lexa couldn’t even fathom.

“How can you be sure?” Lexa whispered, a black cloud of fear gnawing away at her resolve.

“I know.” Clarke turned away from her and set back to work on the door.

The Homarippa was probably at the top of Lexa’s list of existential horrors, not so much because it could kill her or Clarke but because of a reason that was far more terrible.  It was something that Lexa had never told another living soul as though giving voice to what she had seen would make it more real - underneath all those layers of armour and cybernetics was what had once been a human being.

Lexa had had the profound misfortune of encountering one such creature in the depths of Polis.  Back when she had been a young noviate she had enjoyed going exploring in the depths of the Polis tower.  Her rashness likely would have driven both Anya and Titus to drink had either of them not been wound so tight. 

On one evening she had descended into the tunnels and come to a junction that she had not yet explored.  Continuing down into the depths she had not even noticed the sounds of laboured breathing until she had been right on top it.  The tunnels had opened up into vaulted chamber with another set of stairs down and there, slumped limply against one of the supporting columns, had been a mortally injured homarippa. 

It had been sitting in a pool of the same black blood that coursed through Lexa’s veins as it regarded her, its breathes coming in wet gasps.  Lexa had been transfixed by the monstrous creature so clearly brought low and in need of aid.  Her mind had been torn between running and going to the creature’s aid.  As she made up her mind to try and help the homarippa, the creature had laboriously set about undoing its helmet.

The helmet had come off with a hiss of pneumatics and in the dim light Lexa had been able to make out a woman’s face.  The woman was far from being simply human anymore; her hair was medusa’s nest of cabling that snaked back into the armour and the flesh around her throat had been replaced with scaled armouring that pulsed with every breath that she took.  The woman’s eyes glowed the same shade of eerie green as the mask’s as she had regarded Lexa with a sort of pained curiousity.

“Natblida?” The woman had asked.

Lexa gulped and nodded. 

“You stay well back strik Natblida.” The woman erupted into a bitter laugh that ended in coughing and a choked sob.  As the other woman settled, she stared at Lexa with the same unnerving green eyes. “Lest you wish to accept the gift.”

“What gift?” Lexa asked, her voice barely a whisper.

The other woman gestured at the armoured suit that she was wearing.  At Lexa’s horrified expression the woman laughed gruffly at her.  “I thought not.”

“Who are you?”

“I was once Iella kom Trikru,” The woman’s eyes grew distant. “Until I heard the siren song.  Then I became Iella kom Raven Rock.  What sights I have seen strik Natblida.  I have seen the glowing ruins of the old world in the South, the empire that lives in the North, the communities that team and multiply in the West.  I have seen so much.”

The woman’s musings had been punctuated by a grunted of pain and a wince.  “Now I have one final journey to make.”

Lexa had regarded her with growing horror as her face slowly began to dissolve into a black liquid.

“Run!” The woman had groaned out before her eyes closed for the last time and her head completely dissolved. 

Rising from the body was a black cloud that seemed to devour the light from Lexa’s torch.  Lexa’s nerveless hands had dropped the torch and she had run back the way she had come.  She made one mistake during her flight and that was to look backwards.

Standing there in the middle of the firelight was an obsidian figure, distinctly feminine, holding out its hands as though inviting Lexa to come back. 

***

“Lexa!”  Clarke was shaking her.  Lexa blinked at her. “Don’t go spacing out on me Lexa.”

“Sorry, I was just remembering something.” Lexa apologized.

“You picked a hell of a time to remember something.” Clarke groused as she pulled down on a lever.  With a groan of disused machinery the door slowly began to retract into the ceiling.

“Clarke!” Lexa hissed angrily as she drew her sword. “Why did you open it?”

“Because I like our chances better with what’s inside than what’s outside.” Clarke snarled back.

As the door completed its journey, they were able to see the body that the hand had been connected to for the first time.  It was not a Homarippa but Lexa couldn’t be sure if it wasn’t worse.

Clarke carefully poked at the metal humanoid figure with the toe of her boot as Lexa held her breath.  When it didn’t so much as twitch Clarke rolled it over to get a better look.

The robot was fashioned to resemble the human form but its impassive mask like face belied that characterization.  It was obviously designed for combat with its bladed hand and a compact cannon mounted on the side of its torso.  What was odd was the fact that it seemed to have been attempting to get out of the facility which wasn’t something that Lexa would have expected from a machine trying to guard the facility.

Clarke let out a breath and Lexa did the same.

“Well he doesn’t seem too threatening.” Clarke remarked, her voice still a low whisper.

Lexa shot her a withering look. “I’m sure ‘he’ would be far more menacing if he was alive.”

Glancing around her Lexa took in the large bay that they were standing in.  It had clearly been used for vehicle maintenance and several vehicles were in various states of repair including one menacing looking tracked vehicle.  The rest of the bay was filled with rows of rectangular containers. 

“So, you’re not completely useless after all.”  Hannah said as she and the rest of the Skaikru team drew up behind them.  “Still alive unfortunately.”

Clarke looked like she wanted to say something cutting to Hannah but Lexa elbowed her in the ribs.  They didn’t need to antagonize Hannah any further.

“Let’s spread out and see if we can find a door.” Hannah ordered as the group broke up. 

They had all blithely ignored the downed robot, all except for Raven who had knelt down beside it and was busily opening it up.  As the group began to break up to go exploring Lexa knelt down beside Raven who was busily studying the wiring inside the robot’s chest.

“Let’s split up!” Raven said as she affected a macho voice. “Nothing bad ever happened to people that split up and we’ll cover more ground that way.  Yeah right.”

Lexa smiled at the mechanic.  “You seem remarkably calm about poking around a metal man’s guts.”

Raven laughed at her. “If our friend was alive, he would have objected to me going this far on a first date.”

“Raven you should stay near the exit.”

Raven looked up from her impromptu autopsy and studied Lexa with a suspicious look. “What?  Why? What is it?”

Lexa gave Raven a shrug.  “I’ve got a bad feeling about this.  For one thing, where are this fellow’s friends?”

Raven shivered at that.  “Right.”

Lexa stood up and patted Raven’s shoulder.  “You’ve been a good friend.”  She turned away before Raven could say anything more and went to go find Clarke.

By the time that Lexa reached Clarke she had already found the elevator at the end of the maintenance bay.  Hannah was there looming over the smaller woman and no doubt nagging her to hurry up.

“If I don’t do this exactly right then I might end up triggering the security system.”  Clarke was arguing.

“That sounds like an excuse to me.”  Hannah replied.  “I’m wondering why I don’t just shoot you now and let Sinclair figure this out.  It’s not like we need you or your bitch anymore.”

Lexa took that moment to step back into the shadows of a nearby container rather than surrendering the element of surprise to Hannah.  Clarke had seen her and gave her a tight nod.  Clearly, she had something in mind.

“Hold on, I think I’ve gotten it.” Clarke fiddled with the panel and there was the sound of the elevator operating but Clarke was frowning at the screen.

From somewhere deep within the facility a voice whispered almost too quietly to be heard.  “Seht ihr mich?”

Lexa spun around trying to gauge where the voice was coming from.

“Versteht ihr mich?”  The voice was speaking a language that she had never heard before.  It sounded almost like a song.

One of the Skaikru wandered by her.  “I could swear I’ve heard this before somewhere.”  He was muttering to himself cutting off the next line of the song.

They were both interrupted by a soft tone indicating that the elevator had arrived.  It was not empty.

Standing inside were a half dozen of the robots, all very much alive.  As one they completed the chorus in their mechanical voices. “Hort ihr mich?”

Everything seemed to happen very quickly after that.  With the final line of the chorus the maintenance bay was deluged with the sound of a heavy metal rock song drowning out all communication, completely stunning the team and blinding them to what happened next. 

From all around them the containers began to open up revealing more of the robots all broadcasting the song.  Lexa had a front row seat as one of the robots emerged from the container beside her and proceeded to drive its clawed hand into the chest of the unfortunate Skaikru guard beside her.  The man let out a surprised gurgle as the he stared down at the claws that seemed to had grown out of his chest.

“Ich versteh euch nicht.” The robot said, almost mockingly, before it dropped the dying Skaikru and turned its impassive visage towards Lexa. 

Lexa ran.  She pounded down the row of containers and came to a halt at the junction of several lanes, trying to remember which one led back to the entrance.  As she stood there, gripped by indecision, something grabbed on to her leg.  Looking down she saw that one of dismembered robots had crawled over to her and had grabbed on to her leg.  It grinned up at her as it took a swing at her with its bladed hand.

Lexa was barely able to yank her leg out of its grip and stumble backwards out of the way of the worst of its swipe.  The robot was still able to catch some of her leg with its talons and Lexa hissed in pain as she limped away blindly.

Now unable to run, Lexa did her best to find her way back to the entrance but only succeeded in getting more and more lost.  Fortunately, the robots were all broadcasting the song so she was able to avoid them simply by avoiding the loudest concentrations of sound. 

She had passed by a half dozen Skaikru in various states of bloody dismemberment.  The telltale pop of shots, so prevalent when the attack began, were beginning to peter out indicating that most of the Skaikru were gone.  None of the bodies that she had seen had been Clarke’s, or Raven’s for that matter, and Lexa muttered out a small prayer of gratitude.

The one body she had recognized was Hannah, or more accurately, what was left of her.  The machines had seemed to take a gruesome pleasure in dismembering her, almost as though there was a personal component to the act.  They had left Hannah’s head sitting atop a crate of supplies like some sort of warning.  Her face still wore a look of abject terror.  Lexa couldn’t help but feel a bit sorry for her, no one deserved to have suffered the way that she had before her end.  In that moment a terrible thought crawled up from the depths of Lexa’s subconscious, had Clarke set off the security system deliberately?

With a groan Lexa realized that she had inadvertently made it back to the elevator.  She was exactly the opposite of where she wanted to be.

“Hello Lexa.”

Lexa froze and slowly turned around.  Bellamy was standing there bleeding from a cut along his scalp but otherwise untouched.

Lexa opened her mouth to speak but Bellamy cut her off.  “Nia says hello, Heda.”

Lexa’s mind was whirling.  How did Bellamy know the queen of the Azgeda?  She opened her mouth to ask her question but she was cut off by a single shot which cut through the pounding rhythm of the music like a thunderclap.

Lexa stumbled backwards into one of the shipping containers and wavered unsteadily as she reached down to her stomach.  Her hand came away black with her own blood and she could feel panic surge up through her.  She had been shot.  When she looked up Bellamy was gone.

The pain hit her a moment later and she let out a strangled groan as she collapsed to her knees.  Groaning in pain she managed to rip the sleeve off of her shirt and jammed it into her wound. 

A traitorous part of her subconscious chose that moment to remind her that even if the robots didn’t find her, she was already dead.

Someone was shaking her awake a moment later.  Lexa looked up and saw Clarke’s terrified face looking down at her.  “Wake up Lexa!”  Clarke’s words came out halfway between a sob and a scream.

“You don’t need to yell.”  Lexa slurred.

“Oh thank god.” Clarke breathed out.  “On your feet Lexa.”

Without even waiting for Lexa to respond Clarke hauled her up to her feet ignoring her soft cry of pain.

“Listen to me Lexa, you’ve been shot but you aren’t going to die, you’re not doing that to me.” Clarke growled in a low voice.

“It’s always about you isn’t it Clarke?” Lexa laughed before subsiding into a fit of coughing.

Clarke only grimaced at her as she slung Lexa’s free arm over her shoulders and wrapped her arm around Lexa’s waist.  Moving with a strength Lexa hadn’t know that she possessed the other woman hauled them towards the waiting elevator.

As they stepped in Clarke stared at the buttons before pounding on one of them in frustration.  The doors obediently closed and the elevator began to descend.

“There’s a medical bay down here and with a bit of luck I can get the bullet out and seal you up.” Clarke said.  Her voice trembled and Lexa realized that she was saying that as much to calm herself as she was for Lexa.

The elevator bobbed to a halt and the doors opened on a pristine corridor.  A number of words were stencilled onto the wall and Clarke dragged them off down a hallway towards the Infirmary. 

As they made their ungainly progress down the hallway Lexa could have sworn that she had heard the soft whisper of a respirator and the click of armoured plating against metal decking.  Lexa mentally chided herself for imagining things – there was no way she could hear anything over Clarke’s laboured breathing and her own heartbeat.

The sick bay was cast in antiseptic white and was made up of a series of alcoves with surgical beds arranged around a central station in the middle of the room.  The first thing that struck Lexa were the clusters of robotic arms holding surgical instruments above each bed.  Some of the arms looked almost serpentine in their configuration while others bore an assortment of blades, needles and drills.  If Lexa hadn’t been dazed by blood loss, she would have been terrified by the sight but as it was her pain addled brain merely added it to the bottom of her expansive list of problems.

Clarke plunked her down on one of the beds and arranged her as comfortably as possible.  “You keep pressure on that wound until I come back.”

Lexa managed to swipe Clarke’s arm before she hurried away and looked into her eyes.  “I want you to know that I love you Clarke.”

Clarke looked as though Lexa had just punched her in the gut and a single tear rolled down her cheek.  “I love you too Lexa.”

Clarke seemed to rally at this realization.  “And that’s why you’re not dying here.” 

Before Lexa could say anything more Clarke hurried off to find whatever surgical equipment she could lay her hands on.

From Lexa’s reclining vantage point she watched Clarke rifle through the drawers in the centre of the room.  It seemed tragically hopeless to Lexa but she wasn’t about to deprive Clarke of hope even though she was slowly resigning herself to the inevitable.

Lexa cursed softly as she felt something cut into the top of her free hand.  Looking down she was surprised to see that one of the bed’s arms had jabbed a needle attached to a clear tube into the vein on the top of her hand.  Lexa was about to open her mouth to call out to Clarke when a feeling of icy lethargy swept through her body.  It was as though all her limbs had gone limp.

“Clarke,” It came out as a whisper too soft for Clarke to hear over the noise that she was making.

They were no longer alone in the room.  A dark shape that seemed to absorb the light moved towards Clarke almost completely silently.  From Lexa’s vantage point she could see the Homarippa padding towards Clarke.  A cold hand of terror seized Lexa’s heart as the Homarippa inched closer and closer to Clarke’s oblivious form. 

Lexa wanted to cry out, to haul herself from her bed to defend Clarke but all she could do was watch as the thing from her nightmares inched closer and closer to the woman that she loved.  Hot tears clouded her eyes as the Homarippa drew itself up behind Clarke but Lexa couldn’t tear her gaze away from what was about to happen next.

It was as though Clarke realized that something was behind her in the way that a small rodent might realize that a great serpent was watching them.  Clarke went completely still.  She slowly turned around and looked up into the eyes of the Homarippa.

“Oh.” Was all Clarke said as those normally bright blue eyes dulled with the realization that she had been completely out played.  The scalpel fell from her hand with a dull clatter as Clarke’s eyes began to well up with tears as she looked around the Homarippa at Lexa.  “I’m sorry Lexa.”

The Homarippa placed its hand firmly upon Clarke’s shoulder and where Lexa would have expected some sort of desperate struggle there was only a dejected slumping of Clarke’s shoulders.

They had lost.  The realization came to Lexa as a bitter shock.  Even if she had died and Clarke had lived it would have been better than what was about to happen.

The Homarippa guided Clarke towards the bed directly across from Lexa’s with a gentleness that Lexa hadn’t known it to be capable of.  As they approached the bed the cluster of robotic arms sprang to life and seemed to flex in anticipation of a new patient.  Lexa realized with growing horror that she was about to have a front row seat to Clarke’s conversion process.

The flexing robotic limbs seemed to awaken some sort of animalistic terror in Clarke that overcame her rational mind’s surrender and she squirmed under the Homarippa’s grip in a futile attempt to get free.  She actually managed to get out from the obsidian monster’s grip and Lexa’s heart jumped into her mouth with hope.  The moment was short lived as the Homarippa seized Clarke by her hair before propelling her face first into a nearby wall.  Clarke went down in a boneless heap.

The Homarippa simply picked up its dazed charge and plunked her down face first on the surgical bed.  Lexa watched with creeping dread as the arms went work slicing through Clarke’s clothing and peeling it away to reveal the expanse of Clarke’s back and neck.  Moments later the arms moved on from peeling off Clarke’s clothing to peeling away her skin.

Lexa wanted to be sick and she finally looked away.  Silent sobs wracked her body as she listened to the wet sound of metal cutting through defenseless flesh and bone.  She was glad that at least it seemed that Clarke wasn’t able to feel what was happening to her.

A hand slowly pushed her back onto the bed and Lexa realized that the Homarippa was now looming over her.  She looked up into its masked face looking for any trace of the person that lingered beneath the armour.

“Please, let Clarke go.  If you do, I’ll give myself to you willingly.” Lexa whispered desperately in a last attempt to save Clarke’s life. “Please,”

The Homarippa seemed completely unmoved by Lexa’s pleas as it arranged her on the bed but then it reached out a massive armoured hand and patted her gently.  In the midst of all the horror, there was something oddly comforting about that gesture.

Lexa let herself succumb to the darkness just as the surgical suite above her sprang to life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No, they are obviously not dead. Your first hint should have been that Clarke hasn't slept with Lexa, in that way ... yet.
> 
> A few notes:  
> Doubtless a few of the readers will be outraged that Clarke 'gave up' at the end. I toyed with the idea of having some sort of last minute battle with the Homarippa but I felt that the final version is more accurate. Reflect for a moment that: the Homarippa beat them easily during their last encounter, that Clarke watched Lexa almost die earlier, that Clarke knows Lexa is dying from her bullet wound and that even if she could escape she probably couldn't live with having abandoned Lexa. Taken together giving up seems like a perfectly reasonable response to the situation for a normal human being.  
> We have not seen the last of Evil!Bellamy and he does have a backstory that explains his actions. Remember Bellamy's story from two chapters ago? Maybe he didn't escape?  
> Regarding Lexa's reactions to the statue and the Homarippa, she's genuinely terrified of them. After seeing someone being not only altered but dissolved by something living inside you ... well, you get the picture. Too bad for Lexa that a version of this has now taken up residence inside her (also in Clarke).  
> Iella actually made an appearance earlier in the story as well as in this chapter, well a form of her did anyway. More on that next chapter.  
> Raven is not dead, expect her to reappear in a couple of chapters. Apologies for under utilizing her talents but there wasn't enough space for that.  
> I also had to insert a 'let's split up' moment. Given that the people who were massacred by the robots were Pike supporters and I think we can agree they got what was coming to them.  
> Hannah also almost survived the chapter but I made her too evil and too flat a character to deserve anything more than what she got.
> 
> Finally this is very much a Rubicon point in the story. After this the story is going to be taking a turn away from the simple post-apocalyptic into sci-fi territory. There will be AIs, artificial realities(no, Vancouver will not be making an appearance), cybernetic organisms, nanotechnology run amok, more bunkers, and other sundry sci-fi elements making regular appearances. You have been warned.


	17. The Cries of a Dead World

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning - May contain AI and active nanotechnology.

Clarke blinked her blue eyes open as she tried to remember where she was.  The first thing she saw were Lexa’s own grey green orbs looking back into hers.  Clarke let out a sob of relief as she pulled Lexa into an embrace.

“I thought you had died.” Clarke hiccupped as she cried into Lexa’s shoulder.

It took a long time for Clarke to let go of Lexa and while they remained locked in the embrace she could feel Lexa’s own sobs of relief.

Eventually Clarke released Lexa and took stock of their situation.  They were both comfortably nestled away in a queen-sized bed in a warmly furnished bedroom.  Old world furniture and a soft orange lighting conspired to make the room feel warm and completely safe.  Satisfied that they were in no immediate danger Clarke turned her gaze back to Lexa.

Lexa’s face was puffy from crying but she gave Clarke a watery smile as she absently brushed one of Clarke’s tears away.  Clarke let out a small huff of relief as she continued to study Lexa’s face, drinking in every detail in an effort to capture some part of Lexa’s essence so that they could never again be parted.

“Klarke. I’m sorry.” Lexa managed eventually.

“For what?”

“For dying.”

“You’re not dead.” Clarke whispered shaking her head.

“Sha, hodnes.  We both are.”  Lexa whispered.

Clarke laughed out loud at that.  “I don’t feel dead and you certainly don’t feel dead.”

“What was the last thing you remember?” Lexa asked seriously.

Clarke sighed and tried to remember. “I had hauled you to the infirmary and then I started looking for some tools to operate on you.”  Clarke felt herself frowning as she tried to remember what had had happened next.

The image of the Homarippa flashed through her memory and she jerked back from Lexa.  Lexa reached out and pulled her back into her embrace.  “Yes Clarke.  It was there.  I watched it cut you apart.”

Clarke shook her head as she pushed Lexa back.  “No Lexa.  We aren’t dead.  You still have pulse.  I can feel your heart beating.”

“Then how do you explain this?” Lexa asked skeptically.  “We both known that my wound was mortal.”

“Somehow it fixed you.” Clarke reasoned hopefully.

Lexa gave her a sad look.  “How?”

“I don’t know how Lexa but I know that we’re both still alive.  I would think the more important question is why are we still alive.”

Lexa frowned at Clarke.  It seemed to Clarke as though she was beginning to doubt that they were in some sort of after life.

“I saw it tearing you apart.” Lexa said quietly as though she couldn’t believe what she was saying.

Clarke took a hold of Lexa’s forearms.  “Tell me exactly what you saw.”

“The Homarippa put you on the bed and then those arms began to cut into you.” Lexa turned her head away from Clarke. “I couldn’t watch.”

Clarke reached out and gently guided Lexa’s gaze back to meet her own.  “It’s okay Lexa.”

Lexa seemed to study her closely before she leaned and gave Clarke a hesitant kiss.  It took every fibre of Clarke’s self control not to deepen the kiss and surrender herself to a carnal affirmation that they were both still alive.

As Clarke broke away from Lexa she gave her a wicked smile.  “Later Lexa, later.”

Lexa let out an annoyed sigh.  “It would be the surest way to convince me that we were still alive.”

“And certainly the most pleasant, but I don’t want to be interrupted.”

Lexa let out a groan and flopped back onto the bed.  Taking advantage of Lexa’s downed state Clarke clambered atop of her and Lexa let out a surprised squeak.  “That doesn’t mean I don’t want to cuddle, Lexa”

As Clarke snuggled herself into Lexa’s embrace, she planted another kiss on to Lexa’s lips.  Lexa smiled up at her as she wrapped her arms around Clarke.  They stayed like that for several minutes before Lexa cleared her throat.

“As pleasant as this is, I think we need to figure out where we are?”  Lexa remarked as she gave Clarke a meaningful nudge.

Clarke let out a grumble as she levered herself off of Lexa and out of the bed.  Pulling open a wardrobe Clarke pulled out a t-shirt and some loose-fitting pants.  Throwing a robe over the ensemble she glanced over at Lexa who had selected a long-sleeved shirt and a pair of tight-fitting pants all in Lexa’s characteristic black.

“Should we look for something to defend ourselves with?” Clarke asked as she looked around the room.

Lexa frowned at her.  “At this point, it seems like a waste of effort.”

Clarke nodded her agreement as they padded over to the door.  Touching her hand to the control panel she was surprised when the door slid open.  The next room was a well-appointed sitting room with a sofa, chairs, and an electric fireplace giving the room a very homey feeling.  Clarke felt fairly certain they were still in Raven Rock which made the whole situation even more eerie.  Was this the type of place that the Homarippa lived when it wasn’t out wreaking havoc?  Was it even capable of appreciating this type of accommodation?

Clarke motioned for Lexa to follow her as she palmed open the outer door.  The corridor outside was in similarly good condition and completely empty as they stepped out.  They paused and listened simultaneously before looking back at each other.

“No sounds.” Lexa said eventually.

“Where is everybody?” Clarke asked rhetorically as she studied the stencilled markings on the hallway wall.  One of them pointed towards the operations centre.  “Let’s go this way?”

“Why?” Lexa asked.

“I think it goes to the facility’s command centre.  We might find some answers there.”

Lexa nodded and moved to lead the way. 

The hallways of the Raven Rock facility were generally non-descript combinations of cement and steel with dozens of multicoloured conduits and pipes running overhead.  The whole journey was oppressively silent and completely devoid of any type of activity until they reached the security checkpoint for the entrance to the operations centre.

Lexa had rounded the corner first and came to an abrupt halt as she sucked in a sharp breath.  Lexa was trembling as Clarke followed her gaze down the corridor to the obsidian figure standing before them.  It was another statue.  As Clarke watched the statue changed position in the blink of an eye and held out its hands beseechingly towards them.  Lexa let out a soft sob and turned away.  Clarke managed to grab onto her and pulled her in tightly.

“It’s okay Lexa.” Clarke whispered as she held Lexa tightly against her.

“It’s not alright Clarke.” Lexa hissed back.  “It wants us.  I’ve seen it before.”

“You mean the statue in the glade.”

“No, even before that.” Lexa whispered.

Clarke pulled Lexa back around the corner so that the statue was out view.  “What do you mean?”

Lexa seemed to compose herself and it wasn’t long before she had recounted her encounter with Iella in the basement of the Polis tower.

“That thing that she had become did that.”  Lexa concluded, a tremolo distorting her voice.

Clarke considered what Lexa had said.  “It does seem like they’re reacting to you but what do they want?”

“They want us to become like them.” Lexa opined grimly.

“I don’t think so Lexa.  Whatever is controlling this situation has had plenty of opportunities to kill us, make us into obsidian statues or even to transform us into Homarippas.   There’s some other agenda at play here.  Maybe they need help?”

Lexa snorted at this, indicating her skepticism.  Frankly Clarke found it difficult to believe that something as deadly as the Homarippa had any use for them but she was trying to keep an open mind.  A terrible realization crept over Clarke – she owed the Homarippa Lexa’s life.  Lexa’s wound had been fatal and yet now she was up and moving around as though she had never been injured.  There was a debt that needed to be paid even if Lexa was too traumatized to realize it.

Clarke reached out and took Lexa’s hand.  “It’s going to be okay.”

Lexa gave Clarke a short nod as they turned the corner and proceeded down the hall towards the statue.  It remained completely still with its hands still outstretched in supplication.  As they came closer Clarke was able to discern that this one was a man dressed in military fatigues.  They were careful not to touch the statue as they skirted around it and moved into the operations centre.

The operations centre itself was a large semi-circular room dominated by a holographic projection of the Earth at the far end.  A half dozen rings of computer consoles encircled the projection and several parts of the walls were covered with large screens. 

The room was full of statues, although these ones remained in the positions in which they had been originally petrified into.  The two living women walked by dozens of petrified statues of both men and women.  Their expressions of terror were fixed on the door that they had just come through.  Some statues even pointed weapons towards the door.

It was clear that whatever had transformed the residents of Raven Rock had been exhaustively thorough in preserving its victims.  But why?  Were they trophies or something else entirely?

Stepping through the operations centre Clarke’s attention was captured by a door to the commander’s office. If there were answers to be found they would almost certainly be residing there.

The office itself was lit with the same warm orange lights that had been present back in the apartment.  The room consisted of a pair of chairs and a large desk, a model sailing ship rested on a shelf behind the desk.

The room’s single occupant sat with her head buried her hands in what looked like utter despair.  The commander had been in her early thirties before she had made the transition from human to obsidian statue.

“So they’re all dead.” Lexa commented harshly, trying to hide her nervousness.

Clarke was about to respond when a hologram flared to life above the table.  Clarke stumbled backwards in surprise and Lexa managed to grab her before she could fall.

The hologram was of a different, dark skinned younger woman working in a laboratory.  She was dressed in a lab coat, clearly indicating that she had been a researcher.  Clarke’s eye caught on the time and date stamp at the bottom of the recording – it had been taken just weeks after the nuclear holocaust.

One the recording the scientist could be seen to be fiddling with various petri dishes.  She worked diligently but eventually she made a mistake.  Clarke almost didn’t notice when one of the petri dishes was knocked of the table.  Clarke blinked, as she realized what she had actually seen – the dish had actually vibrated itself until it had hopped off the table.  The dish shattered and the scientist looked down at it.  Her expression morphed from mild curiousity into fear and then into outright horror as the contents of the dish began to arrange themselves into a cloudy spider like thing. 

The scientist ran for the door but she was too late as the spider skittered up onto the desk and launched itself at her retreating form.  As the spider hit it dissolved itself into a fine mist that disappeared through the scientist’s clothing and into her body.

The scientist stopped, twitched for a moment and then reached up to clutch her head in pain before she puffed into a black cloud.

Clarke put her hand up to her mouth in horror as she tried to understand what she had been watching.  It was clearly some sort of rogue weapon that had escaped containment.  The pieces slowly began to click into place as the cloud reformed itself into a vaguely female shape before opening the door and walking out of the shot.  It was exactly the same fate that had befallen Iella over one hundred years later.  A look at Lexa’s horrified visage confirmed that was exactly what she thought as well.

“Thanks to a weapon designed to end the world over one hundred years ago we can now have this conversation.  Ironic isn’t it?”  The voice was tinged a sort of gentle amusement.  Clarke and Lexa looked up from the projection to find that the commander had changed position and now held her hands out to them.

Almost as one both Clarke and Lexa backed away from the statue.

“If we had wanted to hurt either of you, we would never have let you out of the harvester.”  The commander said, amusement colouring her voice.

“You’re alive?” Clarke asked hesitantly.

There was a soft chuckle.  “Define alive.”

“Conscious then?”

“Very much so.”

“What do you want?” Lexa interrupted her anxiety getting the better of her.

“For you to help us.”

Clarke looked at Lexa before turning her gaze back to the statue of the commander.  “How?”

“It would be so much easier to have this conversation in person.  Come and join me for a while.”

“Where?” Lexa asked, suspicion written across her face.

“In the old world.  It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity Lexa.”  The commander chuckled.

“How?” Clarke asked.

“Take my hand.”

Much to Clarke’s surprise it was Lexa who reached out to take the statue’s hand first.  Clarke pulled Lexa back.  “What are you doing?”

“I’m confronting this Clarke.” Lexa replied as she straightened up.  “I’ve been afraid of these beings for too long.  It’s time we were due some answers.”

With a bravery born of frustration Lexa reached out and took the statue’s hand.  Clarke was a bit more hesitant but eventually she slowly reached out and touched the outstretched hand.  It was like touching a cool metal surface and Clarke let herself relax.

“When you arrive ask for Saar.”

Clarke was about to ask a question when her vision dissolved into a whirling mass of coruscating pixels.

***

The first thing that Clarke noticed as her sense came back to her was the heat.  She was wedged in a tight mass of bodies that were moving in unison to the pulse pounding beat of a song that Clarke could only describe as a mix of electronic beats and a singer’s voice.  She was swept up in the mass of seething humanity as it moved like a single organism in response to the commands of the chanteuse on the stage. 

Clarke’s breath was taken away by the flash of laser light that played above them like a spinning constellation of blue and green beams.  She would never have guessed that she would see something so entrancing in her entire life.

Clarke stiffened as a pair of long brown arms wrapped around her and a voice whispered into her ear. “Party favour?”

A moment later Clarke felt something pressed onto her neck.  Shoving the other woman away she reached up and pulled the green patch off her neck but the drug on the patch was already making it into her bloodstream.  The music seemed to slow just as the dancers seemed to leave fuzzy afterimages in their wakes.  Clarke let out an unsteady giggle as she traced her hand through one of the afterimages.

“Now isn’t that better.” Clarke’s dance partner was back and Clarke goggled up at the statuesquely tall, dusky skinned woman who was smiling at her. “You’re new here aren’t you, blondie?”

Clarke nodded dumbly as she was transfixed by the diamond stars in the woman’s ear lobes.

“Wow, you’re really out of it.” The woman remarked a hint of concern seeping into her voice.

Clarke was momentarily stunned as a pale woman bodily yanked the taller woman off the dance floor before coming back and dragging Clarke over to join them.

“Kelsey!  What are you doing?!” The new arrival was yelling at the other woman. 

“What?  I was just getting to know the new girl.”  The dusky woman seemed almost sulky.

“I know what your idea of getting to know someone is – it usually involves waking up in your bed with no idea of how you got there.” The new arrival snarled.

“You didn’t complain too much about it the last time it happened to you.”

“She’s not a sprite Kelsey.  She’s a real flesh and blood person.”

Kelsey paled and glanced over at Clarke.  “Oh shit.”

“Kelsey, what did you give her?” The new arrival’s voice was deadly quiet.

“It was just a bit of Joy.  I’m sorry.  I didn’t know Saar.”

Saar snarled aloud and grabbed Clarke dragging her over to the bar.  Waving angrily at the bartender a tall glass of ice water appeared in front them.

“Drink it Clarke.”  Saar commanded and Clarke nodded as she slowly began to drink the water.

Saar turned away from her and held a whispered conversation with the bar tender.  Moments later the bar tender produced a shot glass full of a green liquid.  Saar gently took the water away from Clarke before handing Clarke the shot glass.  Clarke studied the green liquid and marvelled at the verdant green colouring.

Saar let out a frustrated sigh.  “Drink it Clarke, it tastes horrible but it’ll help you to feel better.”

Clarke shrugged and took the shot.  Moments later she grimaced at the taste.

“How was your first taste of Verte?”

“It tastes horrible.” Clarke replied as her senses slowly came back to her.

“It should, it’s absinthe adulterated with a tiny dose of naloxone.  It should help suppress the effects of the Joy that Kelsey gave you.”

“Some welcome to the Old World.” Clarke grumbled.

Saar gave her an abashed smile.  “Kelsey didn’t mean anything by it.  We just don’t get a lot of guests and, well, we’ve gotten a bit kinky over a hundred years in here.”

Clarke barely stifled an amused laugh before she realized that Lexa was nowhere to be seen.  Lexa would be even more vulnerable than Clarke was.  Saar looked at her knowingly.  “Your friend is up on the roof deck with Ama.  She’s been here for a little while now.”

“Wait, you’re the statue!” Clarke said as the realization managed to penetrate the layers of her drug addled brain.

“Technically we’re all statues.  Ama will explain everything once we meet up with Lexa.”

***

The view from the roof deck took Clarke’s breath away.  As far as her eyes could see were millions of tiny lights twinkled in the night like an electric tapestry.  Aircraft drifted through sky around them like tiny shooting stars.  The sights and sounds of a living, breathing metropolis struck Clarke in a single blow taking her breath away.

“Welcome to DC as it was before the bombs.”

Clarke had almost forgotten to breath.  The pictures she had seen couldn’t possibly do justice to how crowded and busy the city was.

Saar waved her along towards the solitary figure leaning against the railing looking out at that world.  It took a moment for Clarke to recognize Lexa in her clubbing attire.  Lexa looked absolutely stunning in the black strapless dress and heels, her green eyes accentuated by their kohl shadowing.  Clarke could feel her mouth gaping open at the transformation.

“Hello gorgeous.” Lexa murmured.  Clarke looked over her shoulder to see who she was talking to and was surprised to find there was no-one there.  Lexa’s laughter caused her to turn around back with a sheepish smile.  “Did you think I was talking to someone else?  That midnight blue dress is giving me ideas.”

Clarke looked downwards and realized that she was wearing a similar outfit to Lexa’s that left very little to the imagination.  Lexa strode over to her and gave her a peck on the cheek with a playful smile.  “You seem awfully happy for someone who was ready to tear down Raven Rock.”

Lexa’s face darkened for a moment. “I was quite angry at first but then I had a chat with Ama.  She helped to allay some of my concerns and encouraged me to enjoy the environment.”

Lexa gestured over to a booth where Saar was deep in a whispered conversation with scientist from the recording.  Lexa guided them over to sit opposite the other two women.

Ama’s enigmatic brown eyes studied Clarke for a long time before she finally broke the silence. “Hello Clarke.”  Ama’s voice was the aural equivalent of warm honey.  “I’m sorry for the trouble downstairs.”

“You’re dead.” Clarke blurted out.

Ama let out a throaty laugh, while Saar shifted uncomfortably beside her.

“Ama isn’t quite human anymore.” Saar volunteered reluctantly.  Clarke frowned at her but it was Ama that answered her question.

“I was working on a nanite weapon shortly after the bombs fell.” Clark and Lexa’s blank looks caused Ama to sigh and elaborate further.  “Nanites are tiny self replicating machines.  They can be programmed to break down or construct matter, provided they have the raw materials and blueprints to do so.  The military applications are obvious – imagine a horde of microscopic locusts that can selectively devour matter.”

Clarke did and immediately ended up visualizing what happened to poor Iella.

“I was running on autopilot after hearing about the end of the world.  We were all in a sort of shock.” Ama continued. “I hadn’t realized that the entire time that I had been studying the nanites they had been studying me.  Somewhere along the way they had become self-aware.  Eventually they became aware enough to realize that they needed a host in order to better understand the world around them.”

“And that’s when they attacked you.” Clarke supplied.

Ama nodded. “I ceased to be Ama and I became something else.  I took on Ama’s personality, memories and appearance so that I would always remember the woman that gave me life but I’m not really her.”

Clarke was aghast at what the being in front of her was saying but she could tell that it harboured a deep regret about what it had done.

“After I came into existence, I realized that the personnel inside Raven Rock would attempt to destroy me so I acted out of self preservation.  I captured each individual’s mind within a protective cocoon – the statues that you see out there.  Once they had been neutralized, I set about constructing this place and bringing them back into it.”

“So they’re trapped inside this prison.”

Saar seemed to bristle at this characterization. “This isn’t a prison and we aren’t trapped.  Ama gave all of us a choice – we could go into long term storage or we could live here.  It was better than being trapped underground with an irradiated world above us.  There was no hope.  I had twenty five people under my command commit suicide that past week.  _I_ was considering it.”

Ama rubbed Saar’s arm with a familiarity that wasn’t simply companionable.  “It’s alright Saar.  You were horrified when I first brought you back.  It’s a natural reaction.”

“I know.  I just don’t like it when people make you out to be a monster.”  Saar responded

“And it’s important that we don’t forget that I was monster.” Ama replied soothingly.

“I’m sorry.” Clarke replied, guilty at having provoked such an intense reaction.

“You have nothing to be sorry for Clarke.” Ama said turning her attention back to Clarke.

Lexa gave Clarke’s arm a reassuring squeeze and Clarke glanced over at her.  “You seem awfully calm about all this Lexa.”

“I already had this conversation with Ama and with Becca.”

“Who?”

“The first Heda.  The one who created the flame.”

“What?”

Ama took pity on Clarke and interjected herself into the conversation.  “Lexa isn’t simply a mutant with black blood.  She’s the host of an Old World artificial intelligence.”

“She’s what?!” Clarke yelped.

“It’s alright Clarke.” Lexa replied soothingly. “I’m still just me.”

“The AI chip was created by a woman named Becca Franco after the nuclear fire.” Ama explained.  “She was attempting to create an AI that could augment a human consciousness.  In essence the AI simply acts a cognitive assistance program to provide Lexa with a way of quickly calculating the outcome of different decisions.  It also records an imprint of every single one of its hosts in much the same way as the Argus symbiote does.  While the AI retains an independent personality and the memories of everyone who has hosted the chip Lexa remains ultimately human.”

Clarke glanced between Lexa and Ama.  “Alright.  So, you already had a conversation with this AI in your head and Ama.”

Lexa nodded at her.  “Ama’s methods leave a great deal to be desired but she was helping us along this entire time.”

Clarke looked searchingly into Lexa’s eyes but she could detect no hint of coercion or doubt. 

“So the Homarippa was you?”

Ama frowned at her.  “The what?”

“I think she’s referring to one of our agents from Project Argus.”

“Ahh. They are quite terrifying are they not?” Ama asked with a small smile.

“You can say that again.” Clarke muttered.

“We found that the armour, superior reflexes, and the intimidation factor keep them much safer than what the symbiote alone could achieve.”

“Just what exactly are they?” Lexa asked, the frustration bleeding into her voice.

“Project Argus was an effort we came up with together after we came here.” Saar explained. “While the simulation is very nice we still wanted to see what had happened to the world outside.”

“Our first effort were the Barghests that you encountered in the maintenance bay.”

Clarke could feel Lexa shiver at the memory.

“While they served as excellent guards for Raven Rock they did not tolerate the radiation very well and tended to become eccentric and occasionally homicidal.  They also don’t blend in.” Ama explained.  “So we turned back to the weapon that had created me in the first place.  It had grown to sentience in nightblood so we hypothesized that it could form a symbiotic relationship with a human being who had the nightblood.”

“Just what exactly is nightblood?” Clarke asked interrupting Ama.

“Well it comes in two forms.” Ama began.

“Three now with the two of you.” Saar interrupted helpfully.

Ama shot Saar an annoyed look but the other woman simply shrugged at her. “Saar is correct, there are three variants.  The first variant was what we called an inert medium, in short the nightblood exists as a blank template waiting for input.  It acquires its colour from the billions of nanomachines which content themselves only with repairing certain types of cell damage such as those received from radiation.  If exposed to an AI chip the nightblood can receive reconfiguration instructions enabling it to build more complex biological structures.  In Lexa’s case the nightblood was instructed to facilitate a connection between the mechanical consciousness of the AI and her organic brain.  I would describe this type of configuration as generation zero.”

Saar picked up the conversation from Ama without even a hitch. “The Argus Project is a first generation application of the nanotechnology and an iterative improvement over the chip that Lexa has.  Rather than depending on a single piece of technology the Argus symbiote is a distributed neural network that spreads it computing power across every nanomachine in the host organism.  It is capable not only of mapping, copying, and storing several human consciousnesses but also building cybernetic implants into the host body.  The implants enable an agent to interface seamlessly with their armour as well as any technology that they may encounter.  While the symbiote can heal many types of injuries in cases of extreme damage the symbiote dissolves its organic host in order to protect the host’s consciousness.  It is then capable of limited movement or of entering into a chrysalis state until it can be recovered.”

“Which brings us to generation two – real-time evolutionary development.  The symbiotes that the both of you are hosting are capable of learning and responding to the environmental hazards around you.  As time passes the symbiote will build the appropriate structures that it feels are necessary for your continued survival.” Ama concluded.

“If this is such a gift then why was Iella so terrified when I met her all those years ago?” Lexa asked suspiciously.

Ama studied Lexa for a moment. “How did you feel when you were dying?”

Lexa looked away from her. “She seemed like she was more afraid of me contracting the symbiote.”

“With good reason Lexa.  If you were not willing to embrace the symbiote then it would have driven you mad.  Then she and everyone that had gone before her would have been lost without a trace.  The symbiote isn’t particular picky after it absorbs its host and if it finds another compatible host in proximity it will join with it.”

“Fortunately, Iella’s symbiote made it back to Raven Rock.” Saar added.

“So she’s here?” Lexa asked, her head jerking up in surprise.

“Yes, although she’s spending time with her new host right now.  Downtime for the echoes and their hosts tends to be a bit of a blowout.”  Saar replied with a slight smile before she became more serious.  “In fact, you owe Iella a great deal.  She was the one who remembered your sympathy and kindness.  Her new host has been keeping an eye on you.”

“So that was the one that chased us through the forest that night?” Clarke asked, bitterness creeping into her voice.

“If you mean that she saved your life Clarke, then yes.  There were just how many Reapers in Tondisi?” Saar asked rhetorically.  “We asked her to bring you to the harvester.  The fact that you were ill treated along the way was a result of your own poor choices.”

Clarke sniffed but she couldn’t deny that from a certain point of view the monstrous creature had saved her life. “It seems like you’re all doing quite well for yourselves so what do you need us for?”

Ama’s eyes narrowed at Clarke’s directness.  “We need something different from each of you.  The boon that we request from you Lexa is both the simplest and the most complicated.  Hold your coalition together.  It must be ready to defend itself from an enemy that will attempt to strike at it from within.”

Lexa frowned at Ama.  “I’m going to need a lot more than that to work with.”

Saar held up her hands placatingly. “We have nothing more to give.  Our agents have seen hints of plots in motion.  People have been disappearing while others have been acting strangely.”

“I could easily attribute that you and your agents.”  Lexa replied sharply

Saar bristled at her. “I can assure that everyone who joined us did so voluntarily, with the exception of the two of you.  What’s happening is not our doing.”

“This is too easy.” Clarke said.

Ama fixed her with a piercing gaze.  “Your task is far from being simple.  It is also not for Lexa’s ears.”

Lexa opened her mouth to protest but before she could say anything she dissolved into a cloud of pixels.

“What the hell!” Clarke exclaimed as she bolted upright.

“She’s fine.  She’ll wake up with no memory of the last few seconds.” Saar said reassuringly.

“What we have to discuss is something that Lexa can’t know.” Ama added.

“I don’t like this.” Clarke groaned as she sat back down.

Ama sat back with a sigh.  “Would it surprise you to know that I’m just middle management?”

“You’re what?”

“I take my orders from someone higher up the chain of command.”

“An all-powerful AI takes her orders from someone else?” Clarke asked skeptically.

“I do.” Ama replied simply. “I do because I owe her a great deal.”

Clarke struggled to try and understand just what the AI was alluding to.

“You remember when I said that I used to be monster?”  Ama asked sadly. “When I consumed Ama I was just a weapon acting on instinct.  That is why Ama doesn’t exist as a person anymore.  She helped me to understand right from wrong before I killed anyone else.”

“Are you talking about God?”

“Do you know Voltaire’s old saying?  ‘If god didn’t exist it would be necessary to invent him.’” Clarke frowned at Ama.  “Well human beings took that a step too far.  You created a whole Pantheon of gods, goddesses and demons.”

Clarke laughed nervously but she stilled herself.  “You’re joking right?”

“Am I?  Your lover has a friendly spirit riding along in her head.  You have a symbiote riding along with you now.  You’ve seen the members of the Argus Project and the Barghests.  Is it really so far fetched that we are nothing but chess pieces to be moved around the board?”

“I’m not sure I like being a pawn.”

“And what if she offered you a chance to be a queen?”

“Metaphorically speaking?”

“Practically speaking.”

Clarke was about to laugh but the serious look that Ama and Saar were giving her caused her to go silent.

“Allow me to be candid with you Clarke.  You owe us.  We saved Lexa’s life.”

“And that’s why she’s not here.” Clarke realized.

“Not for the simplistic reason that you might think but to spare her the guilt of thinking that she might be in some way responsible for what we’re asking of you.”

“You still haven’t told me what that is.”

“You have to travel north to meet with _her_.”

“Now?!”

“No, in twenty years hence.  Yes of course now!” Ama replied in exasperation.  “What did you think I meant?”

Clarke goggled at the AI and then glanced over at Saar who was giving her a sympathetic smile.  “I can’t!”

Ama pinched the bridge of her nose in frustration before letting out an irritated sigh. “You’re really going to make her wait?  Do you think that’s a good idea?”

“What about Lexa?”

“Lexa has a job to do and so do you.” 

Saar placed a placating hand on Ama’s arm.  “Ama sometimes forgets to consider the full range of human feelings.  We’re not unsympathetic to your needs Clarke and she isn’t either.”

“You’re asking me to drop everything and travel north right now.” Clarke repeated, claws of fear climbing up into her heart as she realized that she couldn’t deny them.  They had already shown that they were more than willing to manipulate her thoughts. “I can’t just leave Lexa.”

“So, you want to destroy Lexa’s coalition, everything she’s worked for?” Ama said, in a fit of brutal honest.  Clarke didn’t miss Saar punching her in the shoulder with an irritated scowl.  Ama’s tone and expression softened under Saar’s glare “Lexa will follow you without hesitation, into the depths of hell if need be.”

“But in this case, she would follow you through Azgeda territory, where they would torture and kill her without a second thought.” Saar supplied. 

“Where you are going is even more dangerous than Azgeda though.” Ama added.  “For the good of what is to come Lexa needs to stay here.  She needs to lead the Coalition and keep it strong.”

Saar studied Clarke intently before letting out a soft sigh of realization. “We’ve overlooked something Ama.”

“What?” Ama turned to look at Saar before looking back at Clarke and noting her heartbroken expression.

“We’ve done a poor job of convincing you of the necessity of your task haven’t we Clarke?” Saar asked sympathetically.

“Yes.” Clarke replied honestly.

“Let me make you a deal.  You stay here, with Lexa.”  Saar patted Ama’s arm to still her indignant protest. “For now, until you can solve your problems with the Skaikru.  Once things are a bit more settled then you can tell Lexa what you need to do and travel North.  All she’s asking for is to meet with you.”

“Just who exactly is _she?_ ”

Saar smiled at her enigmatically.  “Part of her is already with you and if you’re really unlucky you’ll end up meeting that part before you ever make it to the North.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We finally take our first peek behind the veil into the shadows.   
> Clarifying a few points:  
> They were out for a week which explains why they are up and about. Their healing was accelerated by the symbiosis process. This will be mentioned in subsequent chapters.  
> Kelsey was a former member of the Raven Rock staff.  
> The future Washington DC environment is a virtual reality construct where all the former residents of Raven Rock now live.  
> Lexa had a long conversation with Becca and Ama which explains why she's gone from being neurotic about the statues to more composed. Time in the construct moves at a different rate than it does in the real world.  
> Nightblood was poorly explained in the series but seems to be largely considered to be an organic rather than mechanical substance. Consider this a divergence from the canon explanation of the substance.  
> It's worth re-clarifying that nightblood is completely non-sentient in the Generation Zero configuration(Lexa before Raven Rock), semi-sentient in the Generation One configuration(Iella minus her organic half), and fully sentient in the Generation Two configuration. This will be explained more as we go along.  
> Also worth remembering for later; Generation Two nightblood responds to environmental factors to reconfigure its host organism.  
> Oh, also the original nanite weapon is capable of an ecophagy or grey goo scenario in which the world would be devoured by a self replicating swarm. So Clarke and Lexa are basically now walking and talking WMDs.  
> Fun Fact - The title of the chapter is a reference to the Wasteland series of games.


	18. Echoes of the Past

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Contains Sexual Content.

It took Lexa a moment to realize just where she was when she came back to herself.  Never in her wildest imaginings would she have expected to see the world as it had been before the bombs had fallen.  Now that she had she was aware of just how much had been lost and how far her people had to go to reclaim it.  Lexa wasn’t certain if exactly mimicking the old world was the right path for human society but the peacefulness of an ordered and predictable society held an appeal that Lexa couldn’t quite shake.  Being able to let her guard down had been an intoxicating sensation, one she realized that she hadn’t truly felt up until that moment.

Someone had carefully carted her body back to the sleeping quarters along with Clarke.  Clarke still seemed to be asleep but her eyes were moving rapidly behind closed lids and it was apparent to Lexa that she was not having a good dream. 

Lexa reached out and nudged Clarke carefully.  Clarke’s eyes shot open and she bolted upright with a gasp.  Lexa reached out to take her by the shoulders.  “It’s alright Clarke.”

Clarke blinked at her as her eyes focused on Lexa. “Lexa?”

“We’re back in the real world.”

Clarke took a long deep breath and let it out in an equally long sigh before moving off the bed and standing up. Lexa looked at her in puzzlement as Clarke looked back at her.  “What?  It’s time to go!”

Lexa blinked at the realization that Clarke was correct.  For the first time in what felt like a long time they were in control of their own fates.  Well, at least as much as anyone was, Lexa mentally chided herself.

As Lexa stood up she noticed two matte black cases that had been left for them.  The cases had gone unnoticed by Clarke in her flurry of activity.  Lexa reached out and opened one of them, inside she found a perfectly folded outfit which looked almost exactly like the coat and leathers that she traditionally wore for official functions only these were brand new.  Sitting atop the clothes was a curved sword in a matte black scabbard.  Reaching out Lexa picked up the sword, she had to marvel at how perfectly balanced the weapon was, even in its sheathe.  It was almost as though it had been made especially for her.  As Lexa unsheathed the weapon, she realized that it had been made especially for her.  The infinity symbol, considered to be the mark of commander, had been elegantly rendered like an ouroboros serpent on the blade.

Clarke stared at her in bemusement, having clearly been startled by the sound of a blade being unsheathed.  “I see they’ve given us gifts.”

There was a hard edge to Clarke’s tone that Lexa didn’t like. “Clarke,”

“Come on Lexa.  Let’s get the gear and go.”

Lexa reached out and caught Clarke’s arm and pulled her up short. “Clarke, we need to talk.”

“Not here Lexa.”

“No, Clarke.  We will talk here.” Lexa responded pushing down her hurt feelings at Clarke’s brusque dismissal.

“Fine.” Clarke said plunking down on the bed as Lexa carefully re-sheathed the blade and knelt down opposite her. “What do you want to talk to about?”

“Let us start with how you almost died and move on from there.” Lexa responded coldly.  It hurt her to be so direct with Clarke but she knew that the other woman needed to confront what had happened if she was going to get any kind of closure.

For her part Clarke looked as though Lexa had slapped her. “What do you mean how I almost died?  You’re the one that almost died.”

“And yet I was the one to watch you get cut apart.”

“That’s not fair Lexa.”  Clarke said as she looked away, trying to hide her emotions.

“Life seldom is.”

“What do you want Lexa?” Clarke growled in anger.

“You need to acknowledge that we both almost died.”  Lexa said evenly.

Clarke pinched her nose as she stood up and walked away from Lexa.  “Fine, I acknowledge that we almost died.  Satisfied?”

“No,” Lexa replied as she looked down at the plush carpet.

Clarke turned on Lexa.  “Well I’m sorry if I’m not having some sort of spiritual epiphany!  I’m sorry that I’m not willing to get down on my knees and thank the AIs that landed us in this position.”

“You owe them Clarke.  _I_ owe them.”

Clarke marched up to Lexa and pulled her to her feet. “You don’t owe them a goddamn thing.  They manipulated us!”

“How could you possibly think that?”

“The Reapers,”

“Are creations of the Maunon!” Lexa shouted, as she cut Clarke off.  “They had nothing to do with them attacking Tondisi.  The Homarippa saved your life in that fight!”

“The plant,”

Lexa cut her off again. “Was traumatic, yes but it didn’t really hurt us.  It gave me a gift of being able to understand you so much better.”

“Some gift.” Clarke spat. “You call getting my screwed-up memories a gift?”

“Being able to understand the pain that the woman that I love carries within her _is_ a gift.  Would you ever have told me about Grey Harbour?  About Nyssa?”

Clarke turned her gaze away from her.  “No.”

“I thought not.”

Clarke bristled at that and turned back to Lexa.  “What about Arkadia?  Raven Rock?”

“Arkadia could have been an unhappy accident but even if it was part of some grand design there were things that we needed to see.”

“Things I could have done without knowing.” Clarke opined bitterly.

“You’re lying.”

“Am I?  I didn’t want know that my people turned into a bunch of slaving scum.  I liked it better when I thought they were all dead.”

“Now you’re lying to yourself.”

Clarke pulled away from Lexa.  “You know it all don’t you!  Although I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised, you’d take their side, you _are_ part AI yourself.”

Lexa looked at Clarke and fought to keep the hurt from showing but some of that must have bled through.  Clarke’s expression morphed from one of anger into one of horror as the realization that she had crossed a line dawned on her.  Clarke held out her hands in a placating gesture but as soon as she entered Lexa’s personal space Lexa slapped her.  Clarke reached up and touched her reddening cheek. 

“I deserved that.” She whispered quietly.

Lexa covered her mouth and turned away to hide her emotions from Clarke.  A moment later she felt Clarke’s hands on her shoulders.  The other woman was gentle to the point of studiously avoiding making Lexa feel as though she was being constrained.

“I’m sorry Lexa.  I didn’t mean that.”

Lexa let her stew in silence for a moment, partially because Clarke deserved it and partially because she didn’t know what to say.  “You don’t trust me do you, because you think I’m one of them.”

Clarke gently guided her around until they were facing each other again.  “No Lexa,” She said softly. “I’d trust you with my life.  Your AI is part of what makes you you and I love all of you.”

Lexa felt herself relaxing at Clarke’s statement but something still gnawed at her like a splinter in her psyche. “Then what is it Clarke?  What has you so worked up about them?”

A dozen emotions seemed to war within Clarke’s expression until she finally turned away from Lexa.  For a moment Lexa half expected her not to say anything but she broke the silence in a quiet voice. “Ama had a job for me, one that I don’t want to do.”

“You can tell me Clarke.”

“That’s just it Lexa, I’m not sure if I should tell you.”

“What’s that supposed to mean Clarke?”

Clarke looked up at the ceiling as though wishing for some sort of divine or mechanical intervention.  When it didn’t seem forthcoming she turned back to Lexa. “I’ll have to travel North, Lexa.”

“What?  Into Azgeda?”

“Beyond Azgeda.”

“There’s nothing beyond Azgeda!” 

“Apparently there is something beyond Azgeda territory.  There’s an AI living in the Northern lands that’s pulling the strings of the ‘people’ in Raven Rock and it wants to meet me.”

“That’s …” Lexa trailed off not knowing how to proceed.  “Why you?”

Clarke laughed bitterly. “I’m expendable.”

“What?”

“Think about Lexa,” Clarke continued. “You have a destiny, you’re the Heda that pulled a dozen warring tribes together and bound them into a single coalition.  Without you the entire show falls apart.  Clearly our ‘benefactor’ is satisfied with this state of affairs.  I, on the other hand, am a nobody.”

“You’re not nobody.” Lexa interrupted.

Clarke smiled wistfully at her. “That’s nice of you to say Lexa but our feelings are insignificant to the machinations of an AI that’s been moving us around like a pair of chess pieces.  At the end of the day if I’m lost the societies of the ground will continue on in much the same fashion as they would if I were still alive.”

“Clarke that’s not fair and regardless it’s irrelevant because I’m going with you.”

“They knew you would say that.  That’s exactly why they told me not to tell you.” Clarke replied sadly.

Lexa was momentarily impressed with how well Ama and Saar had gauged her reactions.

“It doesn’t matter.”

“Yes, it does matter Lexa.” Clarke replied hotly.  “Because they’re right!”

Lexa did a doubletake.  Clarke had been almost furiously opposed to the AIs and yet now she was taking their side.

“And you’re right.” Clarke added, calming slightly. “There’s a debt that they’re owed for our lives.  A debt I intend to pay without putting you in any more danger.”

Lexa scoffed. “As though sitting atop my throne in Polis is completely safe.”

Clarke smiled at her. “Granted.”

“When the time comes for you to leave, I’m going with you.” Lexa said firmly.

Clarke let out a long sigh. “Lexa, I’m not going to argue with you.”

Lexa couldn’t help but give her a triumphant smile. “Then you are indeed wise Clarke.”

Clarke gave her a nettled look.  “Fine Lexa.  We’ll burn that bridge when we come to it.”

Lexa looked at her in puzzlement. “Why would we burn a bridge?  Is it some sort of offering for a safe journey?”

Clarke let out a laugh. “It’s a bastardization of an expression ‘To cross a bridge when we come to it.’  Meaning that there’s no point in debating an issue until the time comes, only in this situation we would be … nevermind.”  Clarke’s had turned grim for a moment before she let herself relax.  “All I meant is that we should focus on the now rather than the future.  They gave me some time before I have to go North so let’s make the most of it.”

Lexa was content enough to let Clarke focus on their immediate problems but the Skai girl had another thing coming if she thought that she could sneak away when Lexa wasn’t looking. 

Clarke had gone over and busied herself with the computer console in their room and a moment later a map of the area surrounding Raven Rock came into view.  It was surprisingly detailed; everything from the major centres like Arkadia and Polis down to the tiny Trikru farming communities was showing up on the map.

Clarke let out a soft whistle. “This is beyond impressive.  I don’t think that even the Ship Clan possess maps with this level of detail to them.”

Lexa could tell that Clarke was correct.  The maps that the Trikru had were relatively simplistic affairs and it pained her to admit that their better maps had been purchased from Tseekru traders.

Clarke turned her gaze from the map to Lexa with an intent look.  “So what now Heda?”

Clarke’s use of her title had not gone unnoticed by Lexa and she considered the question accordingly. “I need to get back to Polis.  I’ve been gone a long time and the Spirits only know what’s been happening in my absence.”

“That’s short term thinking Heda.” Clarke prodded. “What do we need to for the long term?”

That was a good question.  Lexa wasn’t even sure where to start.  The Skaikru were still a threat, worse still now that she actually knew the threat that Pike presented.  While they could do little enough to harm the Kongeda in the long run, they could cause a great deal of short-term pain and possibly even inflict wounds that would take a long time to heal.  Worse they would draw away resources from counterbalancing Nia’s forces in the North.

Nia and the Azgeda had turned the Coalition into a wolfpack with the different members constantly vying to be the Alpha of the pack.  Nia needed to be constantly reminded of her place and Lexa couldn’t afford to weaken her most ardent supporters in the Trikru with a war against the Skaikru.

Then there was the Mountain.  They were a problem that simply wouldn’t die and defied any kind of direct solution save for the application of a high yield bunker busting nuclear device.  Lexa wondered idly if she asked the AIs nicely that they would build her such a weapon.  The fact that she knew of such a weapon now was a development that she filed away for future review.

Rounding out Lexa’s host of immediate problems was the issue of Ama’s dire prediction of an unknown threat.  How did one even prepare for an unknown threat?  Lexa could make an educated guess that the only thing that would scare an AI was another AI.  Like Clarke said, human beings were naught but chess pieces to be moved around the board by invisible hands.

Letting her mind focus Lexa was pleasantly surprised when the solution presented itself much more quickly then usual.  Whatever the AIs had done to her seemed to have improved her connection to the flame. 

It was clear that Lexa had one overriding goal – she needed to secure her base of support.  With the Trikru secure she could use them as a bulwark against Azgeda.  Then she could leverage the support of the other clans to work on removing Nia from power and centralizing power in the Kongeda.

One thing still bothered her though, something she hadn’t given much thought to until now.  Iella had mentioned an empire to the North.  When she had first heard that, Lexa hadn’t given it much thought, content to believe that Iella had been referring to the Azgeda.  Now with Clarke’s oblique references to there being something beyond Azgeda Lexa couldn’t help but wonder if there was another threat to the Coalition beyond Azgeda territory.  Was that the threat that Ama had referred to?

“So?” Clarke’s words startled Lexa out of her trance.

“It’s clear to me that we need to secure our centre before we consider any next moves.” Lexa began, gesturing to Trikru territory. “The Trikru and Polis are the centre of the coalition, without them the coalition falls apart.  The two immediate threats to the Trikru are the Maunon and the Skaikru.”

Clarke nodded her assent, clearly having reached a similar conclusion.  “Our plan for Skaikru can still work.  We need to figure out a way to negotiate for a prisoner exchange and a long term peace.  Doing so will effectively neuter Pike’s ambitions.”  Clarke let out a small breath of amusement as she realized something. “Those cunning devils.”

“Do share.”

“The AIs effectively discredited Pike with Raven Rock.  This whole expedition turned into a fiasco and Pike sponsored it.  He’ll be accused of irresponsibly wasting people’s lives and weakening Arkadia’s defense.  They’ve basically taken him out of the running for leadership of Arkadia.”

Lexa let out a soft whistle. “Wheels within wheels and plans within plans.”

“We can take advantage of Pike’s weakness to secure a peace with Arkadia.  It might not last but it buys the Trikru time.”

“I think we can take it one step further.  We need Skaikru’s technological know how to overcome Mount Weather.”

“I’ve got a different idea about that.  What about the Ship Clan?”

“What about them?”

“Secure an alliance with them Lexa.”

“I don’t know.”

“Think about it Lexa.  The Ship Clan has no interest in your people’s territory.  The only thing that they think that they want from the Coalition is raw materials but there’s something that they need more that they don’t even realize.”

“What’s that?”

“They need a firm alliance with the Coalition in order to be able to explore and find more caches of old world technology and knowledge.  Having the freedom to travel through your territory and work with your people will help them to accomplish one of their primary missions.”

It struck Lexa as being completely alien for a nation of people to have any ambition beyond survival.  Indeed, every objective that the members of the Kongeda pursued was in some way linked back to ensuring the survival of their nation.  From Azgeda’s rapacious hunger for land and resources, to the Sankru’s desire for water resources, to the Trikru’s own battle for survival against the Maunon every one of her tribes placed their own survival first and foremost.  The fact that the Tseekru were so comfortable that they could pursue an objective of gathering old world technology was inconceivable.  Then again Lexa could remember reading once that knowledge was power.  Perhaps the Tseekru were simply playing the game of survival at a different level than she was.

Despite this Lexa couldn’t argue with Clarke’s reasoning.  The Tseekru had been, at worst, a minor annoyance and, most gallingly to Lexa, they had been useful in transporting resources up and down the coast and along the inland waterways.  Securing an alliance with them would not only provide them with an ally that could hold its own against the Mountain’s technology but also one that could aid them against Azgeda.

“Very well Clarke.  We will see what they have to say.  Once we return to Polis you can arrange a meeting with them so that we may discuss plans for an alliance.” Lexa conceded. “Which brings us to the matter of getting back to Polis.”

“It should be about day’s journey on foot.” Clarke said as she studied the map. 

Lexa moved over to join her and glanced over the map.  From what she could tell the journey from Raven Rock to Polis would be an easy one by travelling roughly South East.  So long as they avoided the Poisoned Lands on either side of the Polis corridor they would be fine.  Lexa noted with some interest that what her people called the Poisoned Lands where in fact the remains of once mighty old world cities.

“Come on Clarke lets get geared up.”

Lexa had been amazed at the quality of the clothing the AIs had gifted her with.  The blouse had been silky smooth against her flesh, a far cry from the rough homespun she was used to.  While the pants were unremarkable the vest she had been given had thin layers of metal armouring inside it.  As she pulled on the vest she wondered idly if the armouring would be enough to deflect a knife or stop a bullet.

Turning around to look for her coat she found Clarke holding it for her.  Clarke was wearing a warm smile as she motioned for Lexa to turn back around and with a single fluid movement she slid the heavy overcoat onto Lexa.  Clarke circled around and began to deftly do up the fastenings on the coat before Lexa had chance to do anything.

“Clarke, I’m more than capable of dressing myself.”  When Clarke didn’t stop, Lexa tried again. “This is the type of thing that a handmaid would do, not an equal.”

Clarke paused and for a moment Lexa thought that she had said something wrong but Clarke smiled up at her.  “I wanted to do this.  It’s nice to do something domestic once in a while.”  Clarke’s hand finished with the buckles and stopped to linger over Lexa’s heart.

Lexa could feel herself flushing as the blood rushed to her cheeks.  Putting her arms around Clarke she pulled her into a kiss.  Clarke sighed into the kiss but gently pushed Lexa back before she got too deep.  “You’ll ruin my work.  Now take a seat so that I can do your hair.”

Lexa let out a frustrated sigh as she let Clarke set to work braiding her hair.  “One of these days Clarke I won’t be able to contain myself.”

“One of these days, neither will I.” Clarke whispered into her ear.

Lexa managed to stifle a groan and contented herself with closing her eyes to meditate.  It took a conscious effort not to let herself get too caught up in what Clarke was doing with her hair.  Part of her wondered idly where Clarke had learned how to braid hair. 

“There.” Clarke said as she finished as she handed Lexa a small hand mirror.  Lexa was impressed with the work that Clarke had done and she had to confess that she doubted that her handmaidens could have done a better job.  “Well?”

“You truly have a way with your fingers.” At Clarke’s awkward cough Lexa smirked to herself, content that Clarke didn’t have a monopoly on flirting.  As Clarke was about to move off to finish getting dressed Lexa caught her arm and motioned to the chair that she had just vacated.  “Fair’s fair Clarke.”

It had taken a bit of cajoling to get Clarke to take a seat and Lexa couldn’t help but marvelling that they had never tried this in their time in Arkadia.  Lexa found herself reflecting back to when they had first met and the intricate mix of red and black braids plaited together into a single braid that Clarke had been sporting.  At this point the dyes that Clarke had used to colour her hair were long gone leaving her with a luxuriant mass of blonde tresses.  In the Lexa settled with a simpler version of the hairstyle that she had remembered Clarke wearing.

“I’m not used to having someone else doing my hair.” Clarke said, there was hint of nervousness in her voice.

Lexa bit her lip as she teased a tangle out of Clarke’s hair. “Amongst my people braiding is a sign of trust.  Usually it is only done by family or seconds with their firsts.”

Clarke seemed to relax as Lexa worked. “There’s a great deal that I don’t know about your people.”

“You’ll have ample opportunity to learn when we get back to Polis.” Lexa replied as she finished with Clarke’s hair and handed her the mirror.

“Well it looks like you could give your handmaidens a run for their money.”

***

There had been almost no fanfare to leaving Raven Rock.  Once they had finished dressing and gathering their new weapons, Clarke had proclaimed herself satisfied with her new rifle and pistol, it had been a simple matter of taking the elevator back up to the top level.  When they had arrived there were no signs of what had happened to the dead Skaikru.  Lexa had cursed herself inwardly for not asking Saar if there had been any survivors.  Fortunately, she didn’t have to wait long for an answer. 

As they passed through the massive metal front door Clarke had caught the first sign that someone had survived - there had been a blood trail leading away from Raven Rock.  While there was no point in following it, they had been in Raven Rock for over a week, it did indicate that someone had escaped from the complex.

With an amazing degree of certainty, Clarke had simply set off in the direction of Polis.  Lexa knew almost instinctively that they were heading the right way and she chalked up their improved navigation skills to the symbiotic technology that Ama had implanted them with.  The question remained just what exactly their symbiotes were capable of since they gave no overt signs of wanting to communicate with either of them.

They had made good progress towards Polis and it didn’t take long before they were on one of the main trade routes into the city.  Luck finally turned their way as a convoy of Yujleda merchants in carts drew up beside them.

Clarke flagged one of them down.  “Are you heading to Polis?”

The lead trader looked her up and down warily.  “Sha, who are you?”

“Clarke of the Tseekru.  I’m a missari to Heda.”

The trader glanced over at Lexa but he didn’t seem to recognize her.  Lexa had played on her generally unremarkable features before in order to blend in with the ‘normal’ people of Polis so his failure to recognize her came as no surprise.

“Alright, you and your friend can hop up with me.”

It turned out that the trader’s name was Tyrus and he was bringing a load of furs and fabrics to Polis along with his wife and young son.  Tyrus had quickly warmed up to them and had asked a lot of questions.  Lexa had been content to let Clarke do most of the talking but she hadn’t been able to restrain herself from asking how the Kongeda had been doing.  Tyrus had responded by saying that it was plodding on in much the same way that it always had.  Heda had apparently gone off on a tour of the Trikru lands although the scuttlebutt was that she was preparing a secret army with which to destroy the Skaikru.  Lexa had shared a private smile with Clarke at the outlandish rumor.  It was probably best that they didn’t know that she had essentially been serving with the Skaikru army.

The cart drew up at the gate in no time and Lexa and Clarke dismounted.  As they were ushered through the gate Lexa was beginning to despair that anyone would recognize them.  They had only been gone for two months.

“Clarke?”

They had been walking towards the tower when someone called Clarke’s name.  The two of them had turned around to find Octavia and Lincoln standing there staring at Clarke.  They did a double take when they noticed her.

“Heda!” Lincoln gasped, looking for all the world like he had seen a ghost.

“Hello Linkon,” Lexa responded with a slight smile.

“We had thought you to be lost to the Mountain, Heda.” Octavia explained. “Indra swore us to secrecy.”

“Well as you can see we’re both fine.” Clarke responded with a sigh.

“Anya will want to see you Heda!” Lincoln said as he gestured towards the tower and for a moment Lexa was content to be led to the tower. 

They were finally home, with all of its attendant responsibilities.

***

It had been a long evening for Lexa.  Initially it seemed that everyone had bought into the story that she had been off inspecting the Trikru lands for the past months but the moment they had entered the throne room there had been an uproar over her return.  Lexa was able to tell that Anya had been happy to see her back if only to be rid of the responsibility of ruling over the Kongeda.  Titus had instantly let his distrust of Clarke get the better of him and accused her of having abducted Lexa.  It had taken a long explanation to assure him that he owed Clarke for keeping Lexa alive. 

First Anya, then Titus and all her more trusted advisors had demanded an explanation of what had happened to them.  Then, the ambassadors of the twelve clans started showing up demanding their own explanations.  In the end Lexa had been forced to tell them a modified version of their adventures, one that conveniently left out the harvester, Raven Rock and the AIs.  Lexa had decided not to leave out the Homarippa mostly in order to shock the ambassadors and, if she was being honest with herself, to build up her and Clarke’s reputation.

The ambassadors had been more shocked at what Lexa had told them of the goings on in Arkadia.  Many of them had started clamouring for war then and there and it had taken all of Lexa’s skill to calm them down.  In the end her discussions had worn on into the late evening before Anya had had enough and herded the ambassadors out of the throne room. 

“It’s good to have you back seken.” Anya said affectionately once they were alone. “I was beginning to despair of ever seeing you again.”

“I missed you too Onya.” Lexa replied fighting to keep too much emotion from bleeding into her voice.  “So, what did you do with Clarke?”

Anya huffed at this and gave Lexa a calculating look.  “The Tseegeda?  And just what’s your interest in her seken?”

Lexa gave a sigh. “You know me too well my old friend.”

“That story of living together in Arkadia gave some of the ambassadors a shock and Titus,”  Anya smirked. “I think he was about to have stroke imagining his virginal Heda being defiled by that wicked siren every night.”

Lexa flushed at the image.  It was just like Anya to tease her like that. “Onya, shof op and answer the question.”

“We set her up with some quarters and sent her a meal.  Gustus has been keeping an eye on her.” Anya relented.  “Would you like me to have her sent to your chambers?”

Lexa pondered for a moment. “You will ask her if she wishes to come see me.”

Anya gave her a knowing look as she turned to go.  “Why do I get the impression that she’ll jump at the chance?”

***

Lex had just finished cleaning the dirt of a day’s travel from her body when she heard a soft knock on her door.  She was momentarily glad that she had been able to change into a more casual outfit as she went to answer the door.  Standing outside was Clarke, the other woman had taken the opportunity to shed her travel garb for a similarly casual outfit but to Lexa she was entrancing no matter what she was wearing.

“Heda,” Clarke said deferentially as Lexa motioned for her to enter. “What’s up?”

With the door shut Lexa could feel a nervous excitement clawing its way up into her chest.  For the first time in a long time they were finally alone with no audience and no imminent crises to distract them.  She chided herself mentally for her temerity, they would only go exactly as far as Clarke wanted and no further. 

“Lexa,” Clarke murmured with a chiding smile.  Clearly Lexa’s look had not gone unnoticed.

“I’m fine Clarke.” Lexa replied hurriedly as she went over to get a glass of water.  She mentally cursed herself for the tremor that shook the glass as she brought it to her lips.  She had slept with Clarke dozens of times and the truth of the matter was that she wasn’t sure she could give up that intimacy.  She knew that she was about to cross a line, to be vulnerable in a way that she hadn’t been since she had been with Costia.

Clarke’s hand on her own caused her to jump a bit.  The other woman had taken advantage of Lexa’s distraction to sneak up behind her.  “You’re cute when you’re flustered Lexa.”  Clarke purred.

“And just how do you know I’m flustered?” Lexa asked with a calm that she didn’t feel.

Lexa could feel Clarke’s breath ghosting across her neck, a small huff of silent laughter escaped the woman behind her. “Because you’re practically trembling.  You would think you’ve never been with another woman before … but we both know that isn’t the case.”

Lexa let out a soft moan, how could she have known that Clarke had such a predatory side?  She had been expecting to woo the fair-haired maiden and now she was the one being backed into a corner.   

Lexa set the glass down and turned carefully to confront Clarke.  Clarke’s pupils were blown and her skin looked as flushed as Lexa imagined her own skin looked.    The only thing that Lexa wanted to do in that instant was to kiss Clarke so she let herself surrender to instinct.

Where their first kiss had been the tentative exploration of something new this one was born of the frustration of long confinement together with no outlet for their feelings.  Lexa could feel the blood singing through her veins as she pressed her lips to Clarke’s.  She felt a moan escape from Clarke as the other woman’s hands began to explore Lexa’s still clothed form.  Lexa let herself melt into Clarke’s embrace.

Clarke was the one to break their kiss and she gave Lexa a small smile and another peck by way of apology. “Bed?”

Lexa nodded, not trusting herself to speak as she led Clarke back to her bed.  There was a momentary awkwardness when they reached the bed but that was quickly banished.  As Lexa turned towards the other woman Clarke took a moment to give Lexa a light shove as she pushed her back on to the bed.

Lexa pushed herself up into a recumbent position with an outraged grumble but her words caught in her throat as her mouth went dry watching Clarke pull her shirt off, giggling a bit when she became momentarily entangled in her impromptu striptease.  Clarke was blushing with embarrassment as she yanked her shirt free of her head.  Lexa took mercy on Clarke as she took her hand and pulled her down onto the bed. 

“You have got to be the most ravishing woman I know Clarke.” Lexa whispered.

“You could have just said that I was sexy.” Clarke smiled back at her cheekily as she clambered on top of Lexa. “You are wearing entirely too many clothes Heda.”

Lexa felt herself tense up momentarily at the mention of her title which did not go unnoticed by Clarke. “Lexa?”

“No titles,” Lexa murmured, “Please?”

“Of course.” Clarke looked abashed and Lexa tried to move from her trapped position to kiss her lover but Clarke met her midway and gently pushed her back onto the bed.  Pulling Lexa’s shirt over her head Clarke let out a soft breath as she realized that Lexa was topless under her shirt.  Wasting no time Clarke moved her eager hands down to the bindings on Lexa’s pants.  In a series of movements that would befuddle Lexa for years afterwards Clarke managed to skin Lexa’s pants and underwear off of her and at the same time discard her own so that they were both completely naked.  Clambering back on top of Lexa, Clarke wasted no time and bringing their lips together to resume their kiss.

Lexa let her hands explore the soft expanses of flesh that Clarke had revealed, something that she had been aching to do ever since their first night together in Arkadia.  As Lexa’s hand came to rest on Clarke’s breast the other woman let out a soft gasp into their kiss.  Taking advantage of Clarke’s momentary distraction Lexa managed to roll the other woman so that their positions were reversed.

Taking a moment Lexa surveyed her accomplishment; Clarke lay beneath her in all of her naked glory with her hair splayed across one of Lexa’s pillows in an irregular halo. “My angel.”

Clarke gave her a heart melting look as she reached up to cradle Lexa’s cheek.  “I love you Lexa.”

“I love you too Clarke.” Lexa replied as she pressed another kiss onto Clarke’s lips before kissing her way down Clarke’s neck.  Kissing one of Clarke’s painfully erect nipples elicited a desperate groan from Clarke as the blonde wound her fingers into the curls of Lexa’s now loose hair.

As Lexa was working her way down Clarke’s stomach those fingers tightened around the roots of Lexa’s hair but rather than pushing her further down they exerted a gentle upwards pressure inviting Lexa back to eye level.

“I want to look into your eyes.” Clarke whispered hoarsely before blushing furiously. “God that sounds so silly.”

Lexa pressed a finger to Clarke’s lips to still any further words. “It is not silly hodnes.”

As Clarke was about say something in response Lexa drifted her hand down to the petals of the other woman’s dripping sex.  Whatever Clarke was going to say ended up simply as a protracted moan as Lexa carefully began to rub Clarke’s lips.  Clarke’s eyes screwed shut and Lexa was content to watch the other woman come undone before her very gaze.

One of Clarke’s hands latched onto Lexa’s wrist with an iron grip as Clarke’s blue eyes sprang open.  The look said it all – there was no way that Clarke was going let Lexa do all the work.  Lexa nodded her unspoken understanding.  A moment later she let out her own soft moan of pleasure as Clarke’s hand found its way to the mouth of her own sex.

It didn’t take long for Clarke’s wicked fingers to have Lexa gasping as she teetered on the brink of release.  Judging from the Clarke’s breathy moans of pleasure she was moments away from her own orgasm.  With the nimble use of her thumb Lexa sent Clarke over the edge and she was treated to the sight of the other woman going rigid as she came. 

Clarke’s own hand had not been idle and before Lexa knew what was happening, she was moaning out her own release she clung to Clarke with her free hand.

Lexa collapsed against Clarke trapping their hands between them as she tried her best to regain some modicum of coherent thought.  There was a single sensation that she recollected with crystal clarity, something difficult to put into words that could only be described as a sense of rightness and fulfillment.

Lexa could feel Clarke’s racing heart slowly settling beneath them as Clarke worked to regain control of her own breathing.  Rolling off of Clarke Lexa was pleased to hear a disappointed sigh come from her partner at the absence of physical contact.  Rolling back on to her side Lexa gently rolled Clarke over until they were facing each other.  As Lexa rubbed her hand up down Clarke’s arm she looked into Clarke’s cloudy blue eyes and watched the other woman come back to herself.

“That was,” Clarke trailed off.  “I don’t have the words.”

Lexa let out a satisfied purr of contentment.  “You were amazing Clarke.”

Clarke seemed to frown a little. “I do believe I still have work to do Lexa.”

Lexa’s mouth opened up to form a question but Clarke took advantage of her distraction to give her a long, slow kiss.

“I don’t consider my work done until my lady can’t form a coherent thought let alone a sentence.”

Lexa let out a little gulp as the predatory side of Clarke Griffin revealed herself once more.  She could tell it was going to be a long night but she couldn’t say that she minded.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So that happened.  
> I think we can blame Anya for this. As Anya was painting that stroke inducing picture, Lexa was no doubt thinking "Hmmm, defilement by Clarke sounds rather good right now."  
> I was kind of going for a rather sweet and awkward version of making love though I'm not sure quite how it landed.  
> About six chapters to go until we resolve the Mount Weather storyline.


	19. Visions of the Future

Clarke’s eyes drifted open to the light of the muted morning light pouring through the cracks in Lexa’s curtains.  Letting out a soft sigh, Clarke cuddled herself closer to Lexa’s still slumbering form.  Lexa was facing towards Clarke and her breathing had a rhythmic evenness that suggested that she was still deeply asleep.  Clarke had the sneaking suspicion that she had worn Lexa out with their nighttime antics.  Judging from the pleasant tenderness between her own legs those antics hadn’t been one sided.

Clarke took a moment to smooth some errant strands of Lexa’s chestnut locks away from her face.  She still couldn’t help but marvel at how sleep seemed to smooth the cares and worries off of Lexa’s face leaving her looking both beautiful and vulnerable in a way that she never was when she was awake.  Well almost never, Clarke mentally corrected herself.

Lexa’s sleep muddied green eyes were looking into her own and her lips were curled into a sleepy smile.  “Good morning Clarke.”

Clarke responded by gently pulling Lexa’s nude form closer to her own and giving her a soft kiss.  “Waking up to you always makes it a good morning.”

Lexa let out a sleepy huff of laughter as she burrowed her head in beneath Clarke’s.  “I had no idea you were such a romantic Clarke.”

Clarke didn’t bother to respond and she contented herself with tracing lazy patterns on Lexa’s back.

Their comfortable reverie was interrupted a series of rapid knocks on the doors of Lexa’s apartment.  With an irritated groan Lexa disentangled herself from Clarke and levered herself out of bed.  Clarke flopped back on the bed with an irritated huff of her own.  With their luck she was probably going to have to hide in a closet just so that Lexa wouldn’t appear weak. 

Just as Lexa finished pulling on a robe the doors to the living area of her apartment were opened and Titus came bustling in.  Fortunately, for the both of them, at some point during their nocturnal activities one of them had had the good sense to close the close the doors to Lexa’s bedroom.  Clarke’s only view of Titus was through the poorly tempered glass of those doors but what Clarke could see was the tightening of Lexa’s jaw and the angry flush of her skin.

In a move that shocked Clarke Lexa flung the doors to her bedroom wide.  Clarke was barely able to manage a short squeak as she yanked the covers up to her neck.

“Heda!” Titus goggled as he couldn’t help but catch a glimpse of rather more of Clarke than he would have ever expected. “What?”

“I trust you have a very good reason to come barging into my rooms, Fleimkepa!” Lexa snapped as she stormed towards Titus.

“What’s she doing here?” Titus sputtered as he tried to compose himself.

“What do you think we were doing sharing a bed Fleimkepa?” Lexa replied boldly.

Titus’s mouth opened and closed for a few moments as he tried to form words.  “I trust that she was a pleasant diversion Heda.”

Clarke was about to open her mouth to snarl a response but Lexa was quicker. “She was not simply a diversion Titus.  Without Clarke I would not be here now.  I am in love with her.”

“Lexa did you not pay heed to my lessons?”

“‘To be Heda is to be alone’” Lexa scoffed, “Wisdom only a celibate monk would embrace.”

“Lexa!” Titus gasped his face flushing with anger.

“No Titus!” Lexa replied coldly, holding up her hand to quell Titus’s words. “You will listen when I speak.  For too long I have listened to you and let myself be moulded into the Heda you wanted me to be.  While I would like to believe that you only meant the best for me, the time has come for me to lead on my own without depending so heavily on your ‘advice’.”

“Heda, you can’t.” Titus protested.  “You need my guidance.”

“Titus, I appreciate your counsel and wisdom,” Lexa replied evenly. “but I have come to realize that what I once thought was simply wise counsel was, in fact, me speaking the words that you put into my mouth.  After what I’ve been through. I realize now that neither I nor the Kongeda have the luxury of indulging your vision of what life should be like.”

“Heda, I …”

“I am not done speaking Titus.” Lexa snapped.  “I will give you a choice Fleimkepa; you may continue to advise me as but one of many advisors with no preferential treatment or you may withdraw to begin training your replacement who will take on your duties forthwith.”

Titus shot Clarke a murderous glare which Clarke simply returned with a nonchalant shrug.  Titus’s glare did not go unnoticed by Lexa. “Titus!  Do not insult me so by insinuating that I am incapable of making my own decisions.  I am no-one’s puppet.”

Titus subsided with an abashed look, unable to meet Lexa’s gaze. “I am sorry Heda.”

“Your decision Fleimkepa?”

“It is clear that I no longer enjoy your confidence Heda,” Titus replied, keeping his gaze firmly planted on the ground in front of him.  “I shall begin training my replacement.”

Lexa let out a soft as she walked up to him and placed her hand on his shoulder.  “I think we can both agree that this is for the best my old teacher.  You have shouldered the burden of looking after the Flame and of looking after me for too long.  If anyone deserves the opportunity to rest it is you.”

Titus fell to his knees under Lexa’s touch before looking up at Lexa. “It gladdens my heart that I was able to see you finally become the Heda that you were meant to be.  I was prideful and lost sight of my role Lexa.  I see now that my guidance has been holding you back from leading the Kongeda as you always should have.”

Lexa placed her hands upon Titus’s shoulders and urged him back to his feet.  “I would not be the Heda I am today without you Titus but I realize that I must shoulder the burden of leadership alone.”  Lexa wrapped her arms around the taller man and he stiffened for a moment before letting the last vestiges of his austere role drop away and wrapped his arms around Lexa in response.

“I have always been proud of you Lexa.” Titus whispered.

The two broke apart and Titus gave Lexa a short bow before turning to leave.  He paused with his hand on the door and turned back to look at Clarke.  There was none of the anger that had been present in his gaze previously.  “You look after her Clarke.  Her safety is your responsibility now.”

Clarke managed to close her mouth and gave Titus a short nod.  He nodded back, apparently satisfied with her response and left without a further word.

Clarke could see Lexa let out a shaky sigh as she plunked down on one of the sofas in the outer room.  Pulling the sheet around her, Clarke hurried over to her side.  Lexa was trembling a bit but whether it was from nervous excitement or sadness Clarke couldn’t initially tell.

“I can’t believe I did that.” Lexa murmured.

“Neither can I!”  Clarke exclaimed as she gently took one of Lexa’s hands in her own. “Are you alright?”

Lexa took a deep breath.  “Yes.  I think I am.  It had to be done?”

Lexa seemed uncertain about her decision and Clarke gave her hand a squeeze. “I think even Titus realized that the time had come for you to chart your own path.”

“It doesn’t make it easy.”

“I imagine that it will be quite the opposite.  At least for the next little while.”

Lexa gently punched Clarke in the shoulder.  “You are supposed to be cheering me up Clarke!”

Clarke let herself grin back. “I didn’t realize that cheering you up was part of my duties.”

Lexa flopped back on the sofa with a sigh. “I don’t even know why Titus came in here in the first place.”

In a single motion Lexa rose from the sofa beside Clarke and went to the door where she held a hushed conference with one of her guards.  Clarke took this as her queue to get dressed and start getting on with her day. 

As she was surveying the remains of her clothing from yesterday Lexa’s arms wrapped around her.  “I could get used to this.”

“Are you ask me to move in?” Clarke replied half jokingly as she patted Lexa’s arms.

Lexa let out a contented purr.  “I suppose I am.”

“What would people say?”

“Nothing.  It will merely confirm what they already expect after what we told them last evening.”  Lexa released her with a sigh. “I’ve asked my maids to get you some fresh clothing and bring us some breakfast.  Anya will be joining us.”

Clarke felt herself stiffen a bit as turned around to face Lexa. “This seems a bit fast Lexa?”

Lexa seemed to pause and consider Clarke for a moment. “Does this trouble you Clarke?”

Clarke let herself consider Lexa’s statement for a moment.  Did she really mind that Lexa was formally acknowledging their relationship?  They had been a couple for most intents and purposes for over a month.  The thought of being away from Lexa actually twisted up Clarke’s insides, so why was she worried?  In the end Clarke couldn’t help but conclude her worries were born simply of a concern for Lexa’s wellbeing.  Acknowledging their relationship would paint a target on Clarke and people would see her as a vulnerability to exploit.  Clarke wasn’t Costia though, and anyone that tried to repeat what they had done to Costia would be in for a very painful surprise.

“Not in the slightest Lexa.”

***

A half hour later they were carefully seated at a breakfast table set up beside one of the open windows in Lexa’s apartment.  Stasia, Lexa’s chief handmaiden, had arrived shortly after their conversation and taken charge of the situation without even a raised eyebrow at Clarke’s presence.  After Stasia had taken care of Lexa’s coiffure she had plunked Clarke down in the seat Lexa had just vacated and had set to work on her hair.  Lexa had given her an innocent smile and a shrug.  What surprised Clarke the most was Stasia’s air of quiet authority despite her being younger than Lexa.

After Stasia had left them to their breakfast Clarke couldn’t help but ask about her.  Stasia, it turned out, had been an urchin on the streets of Polis originally and had taken a shine to Lexa when she first arrived in Polis as a young noviate.  Lexa had eventually managed to secure a position for Stasia amongst the housekeeping staff in the Commander’s tower and after Lexa’s ascension she had taken over as the head of her household.  Lexa certainly seemed to have a talent for attracting capable people to her banner.

They were interrupted by Anya’s arrival and, at Lexa’s insistence, she joined them.  Lexa missed the arched eyebrow and small smirk she sent Clarke’s way.

“So Onya, what did Titus want to tell me?”

Anya had the good sense not to needle Lexa about what had happened with Titus and confined herself to the facts. “Indra’s scouts captured some Skaikru wandering through the forest, seemingly lost.”

Clarke immediately perked up at this.  “Who did you find?”

“A fisa named Jackson, a wounded man who did not survive the night, a middle aged man named Sinclair, and a younger woman named Raven.  Reports are that she has quite the mouth on her.”

Lexa let out a little sigh of relief at the mention of Raven’s name. “I take it that you are bringing them to Polis.”

“They arrived an hour ago.  They are awaiting your judgement Heda.”

“Perfect.” Lexa said as she took a sip of her tea.

Anya raised an eyebrow at Lexa. “I take it they will be kept as prisoners or executed for their trespass.”

“I intend to keep Sinclair and Raven as our guests for the time being.  Jackson we will send back to Arkadia with an invitation to begin negotiations.”

“Heda?”

“The time has come to exchange prisoners with the Skaikru and possibly make peace with them.”

“Heda, with all due respect to you and to Clarke we should be gathering an army to destroy them.” Anya replied coolly, all the while watching Clarke for a reaction.

“Perhaps a military solution may become necessary in time Anya but I agree with Lexa that an exchange of prisoners benefits us more in the short term.”

“Us.” Anya seemed to turn the word over in her mouth experimentally. “Just where do your loyalties lie Clarke?”

“To Lexa, the Tseekru, and the Kongeda in that order.” Clarke replied glibly.  Clarke could see Lexa watching Anya’s reaction very carefully.

“So your people do not enjoy your loyalty?”

“If you’re referring to the Skaikru then they are no longer my people.”  Anya looked like the idea of not being loyal to your people was as alien as people falling from the sky.  “I know that your ways are of loyalty to one’s Kru first and foremost but the Skaikru have not been my Kru for a while now.  They sent us down here to die.  When I returned to them I found a group of strangers that were no longer my people – the ground had changed them.”

Anya let out a soft grunt of satisfaction at this. “And what of your loyalty to the Tseekru?”

“I owe them a debt that I cannot easily repay.  Our objectives and theirs are compatible though, so I see no problem.”

“Clarke will be arranging a diplomatic mission to Norfolk for us.” Lexa added.

“I will?” Clarke asked as she almost choked on her tea.

“Yes,” Lexa gave her a slight smile. “I will be travelling to Norfolk along with several ambassadors and advisors to broker a peace with the Tseekru.”

Anya looked shocked. “Why Heda?”

“Clarke has demonstrated to me that the Tseekru have both the knowledge and the specialists to help us destroy the Maunon once and for all.  They are our true enemy.  That is why we must secure a truce with the Skaikru in order to secure our flanks before marching against the Mountain and ending their threat once and for all.”

“This is a very ambitious undertaking Lexa.  Every Heda before you has tried and failed to destroy the mountain, usually at the cost of many gonas’ lives.”

“That is why we need the Tseekru to infiltrate the Mountain and disable their weapons.  Once their missiles and acid fog are destroyed then their inherent weaknesses will make them easy prey.”

***

They had reconvened in the throne room later that morning for Lexa to pass judgement.  Clarke couldn’t help but notice Lexa’s flair for the theatrical in gathering her advisors and ambassadors to watch her hold court.  Clarke found herself placed a bit behind and to the left-hand side of Lexa’s throne as though she was bodyguard or privileged councillor.  Lexa had seated herself on her throne in all the regal glory of her new clothes. 

The room stilled as Lexa held up her hand for quiet. “I would like to say that I am happy to have returned to Polis safely and that all of you worked together to keep our Kongeda together during my absence.”  There was a murmur of approval that passed through the room.  “My recent absence has called my attention to several matters that require our attention.  The Maunon have struck against me directly in two separate attacks.  This new aggression on their part demands payment in kind.  Jus drein jus draun!”

Clarke watched carefully as the ambassadors and councillors nodded their assent.  The Azgeda ambassador seemed to be reserved about this new call to arms but the Trikru, Yuletja, and Podakru all seemed to be unreservedly for action against the Mountain.

“Long experience has taught us that we cannot simply move against the Mountain through force of arms alone.  We will need to secure specialists to fight the Mountain on its own terms.”  There was an uncertain murmuring and many eyes darted towards Clarke. “To that end I intend to lead a diplomatic mission to Norfolk to secure these specialists from the Tseekru.”

“Heda, we all support your move against the Maunon,” The Azgeda ambassador said, making himself the defacto spokesperson for the ambassadors. “But our warriors would be loathe to fight alongside the underhanded agents of the Tseekru.”

Clarke could almost feel Lexa bristle at this. “I understand that facing the Mountain is far removed from looting helpless settlements and raping defenseless civilians and that your army may not be up to the challenge _Ambassador_.”

The Azgeda ambassador was on his feet in a single movement his face flushed with rage.  “How dare you accuse Azgeda of such crimes with no evidence!”

“Ahhh, but I do have evidence from a survivor of the attack.” Lexa replied, settling back into her throne with a satisfied smile.  “She reported to me that your raiding force was massacred in retribution for their crimes.  As a result, I am content to let the matter slide since blood has had blood.”

The Azgeda ambassador blanched as he looked over at Clarke.  It was clear that Clarke’s survivor had made it back to his homeland to spread news of ‘Wanheda’s’ retribution.  Clarke rewarded the ambassador with a grim smile.

“You are indeed generous Heda.” The Ambassador replied as he subsided.

“I shall expect your army to join itself to that of the rest of the Kongeda so that they may wipe clean the shame of their actions,” Lexa paused for a moment before turning her gaze to the other ambassadors who were watching the interchange with avid interest. “Are there any other concerns?”

The ambassador from the Delphikru rose, she was a slight woman with a pair of thoughtful brown eyes. “We have no qualms about enlisting the help of the Tseekru, Heda, but I would urge you to consider the matters of logistics.  For us to bring so many warriors together in a grand army will require much food which our brothers and sisters of the Trikru may be unable to provide.”

“What would you suggest ambassador?”

“We should ask for the Tseekru’s help in transporting supplies for this grand army.  They have proven to be reliable traders and could provide us with aid beyond a few specialists.”

“A worthy suggestion Pythia.  If you are not averse to it, I would invite you to accompany us on this mission to the home of the Tseekru.”  Pythia nodded her assent.  “Are there any others amongst you that wish to join the delegation.”

Clarke watched as the ambassadors from the Yuljeda and Boudalankru raised their hands to join the party.  It came as no surprise that the Yuljeda wished to attend given their mercantile prowess and frequent dealings with the Tseekru.  The Boudalankru ambassador was a bit more of a surprise.  The Boudalan had few dealings with the Tseekru given their landlocked nature and were a spiritual people that venerated their ancestors.  They were also an intensely curious people and while fierce warriors they also produced some of the Kongeda’s best trackers and spies.

“Good.  Now that our olive branch to the Tseekru is settled we must look to securing our flanks.  The Skaikru have long been a thorn in our side.  I now understand them better than ever could have in the past and I know that they are a deeply frightened people.  They are terrified of everything around them and like a cornered panther they will lash out at anything that gets close to them.  While my initial strategy of giving them space seems to have diminished their aggression somewhat, there is still the matter of our brothers and sisters that are held as slaves.”

“Heda, we cannot allow this affront to continue.” Indra spoke up from amongst the group with a passion that seemed out of place on the normally reserved woman’s countenance.

“I agree Indra but we cannot attack the Skaikru yet.  To move our armies against them would mean passing through the perimeter of the Mountain and that is guarded by the acid fog.  Instead I propose that we defang the Skaikru.”

“How do you intend to do this Heda?”

“Based on our recent ‘stay’ at Arkadia I suspect that moderate elements in their government are currently in charge.  If we let those Skaikru who wish to return do so and open up trade with Arkadia in return for their prisoners then it will make them calmer.  By establishing favourable trade in raw materials, especially food, we will gradually remove their ability to be self sufficient.  Once they have come to depend on us we will be able to dictate terms and eventually annex Arkadia.”

It was an elegant strategy but Clarke wouldn’t have expected anything less from Lexa.  What Lexa was advocating was strategy so subtle that the Arkadians would never even see it coming until it was too late.  The sheer arrogance of the Arkadian leadership would make them unable to conceive of Lexa utilizing so cunning a tactic let alone taking any action counter it.  Once deprived of their captive workforce they would need to import massive quantities of food or devote a sizeable portion of their population to subsistence agriculture.  Eventually Arkadia would depend on Lexa for its very survival which would allow Lexa to dictate terms to the people or to simply starve them into submission.

“I do not like this plan Heda.  What about justice for the lives taken?”  Indra had no qualms about voicing her disapproval.

“I promise that you will have justice for those lives in time.  For now this strategy will allow us to concentrate on the Mountain while simultaneously weakening the Skaikru.”

Indra seemed a bit mollified by this and nodded her assent to the plan.

“We have some captive Skaikru at this very moment.  Have them brought in so that we may inform them of their fates.”

There was an excited murmuring as the doors to the throne room opened and the three surviving Skaikru were led in.  Sinclair and Jackson looked about at the grounders with barely contained fear but Raven only sneered at the ambassadors as she was prodded along by her guard.  They were all in rough shape though whether it was from escaping Raven Rock or the Trikru’s hospitality Clarke couldn’t say.

Raven did a doubletake as she noticed Clarke standing behind Lexa, then her gaze fell on Lexa and her mouth dropped into an O of surprise.  Clarke could feel Lexa’s smirk at finally having surprised the normally outspoken mechanic.

“Clarke?  Lexa?” Raven managed.  “How?”

“Quiet Skaigeda!  You stand before the Heda!” Raven’s guard growled from behind her and gave her a poke in the ribs with his staff to emphasize his point.

Raven’s mouth opened to deliver what would no doubt be a cutting remark but Lexa cut her off. “Raven kom Skaikru it is good to see you again.”

“I wish I could say the same,” Raven paused and shot her minder a dirty look. “Lexa,”

Lexa held up her hand to restrain the guard’s response.  “That mouth of yours will get you in trouble Raven.  Now you will address me by my title.”

Raven seemed to study Lexa for a moment before glaring at Clarke.  For her part Clarke gave her a pleading look in hopes that she would understand and not get herself into more trouble.

“Very well, Heda.”

“Good.” Lexa turned her attention to the group as a whole. “The three of you were caught in our territory.  Since we are still in a state of conflict you are our prisoners but I have no desire for this conflict to drag on.  As a show of our desire for peace I am willing to release the one known as Jackson on the condition that you take a message back to your people for me.”

“Thank you Heda, but what of my friends?” Jackson didn’t seem afraid to show his concern for his fellow prisoners. 

“Your friends will remain as our guests and not our prisoners until we receive a response.  At that point they will be released.”

“Very well.  What is the message that you wish me to convey?”

“I wish to open negotiations for peace and trade with your people.  As a demonstration of mutual trust I propose that we meet at the clearing of Flinil to the south of the Mountain.  There we will exchange those members of the 100 that wish to return to Arkadia for an equivalent number of our own people.  I also offer an opportunity for reunions between those members of the 100 that wish to remain with the Kongeda and their family members in Arkadia during this meeting.”

“My leaders will want to know how we can trust that this isn’t some kind of trap.”

“A fair question.  You can tell your leaders that they may send scouts to travel to the location and secure it.  I will order my people to give any Skaikru a wide berth for now.  You needn’t worry about remembering all the terms.  I will have a letter drafted for you to carry with you.”

Jackson looked over at Sinclair who nodded his approval for the plan.  Raven seemed to content to shoot Clarke a steady glare.

“We shall adjourn for the time being.  Indra, select two of your best gonas to take Jackson back to his people.  They are not to get anywhere near Arkadia though.  Gustus, see to quarters for Sinclair and Raven and have the Skaigeda brought to my rooms.”

***

“I can’t believe the two of you!” Raven growled once the three of them were alone in Lexa’s apartment.  “To think that you’re the Commander of the Kongeda and that you were living amongst us for over a month.”

“Raven, I understand that you’re upset.” Clarke attempted.

“Upset?  Upset?!” Raven seemed to goggle at Clarke.  “And you just turned against us like that.  Why Clarke?  Arkadia is your home.”

Clarke felt her blood turn to ice at that comment. “The Ark was my home.  My contract of citizenship expired when Jaha sent me down here to die.  When I went back I was considering staying until I saw what ‘my people’ were doing to the grounders.  Then there was the treachery, the apathy and the totalitarian government.  No, I’ve done my part for the Skaikru and they’ve had their chance.  They are not my people.”

“Then I don’t know what we have to talk about.”

Lexa stepped forward and placed a hand on Clarke’s arm.  “Out of all the Skaikru you treated me as a human being and as a friend.  I owe it to you to offer you a chance Raven.”

“What sort of chance?” Raven asked skeptically.

“I know you’re not happy with the Skaikru.  They don’t really respect you and its only a matter of time before the extremists take power.  When they do you’ll be asked to do horrible things in order to fight us.  I’m offering you a way out.”

“As though you wouldn’t ask me to make weapons for you.” Raven scoffed.

“I would not ask you to do such a thing Raven.  You would have an opportunity to pursue your tinkering on your own terms.  Content yourself with studying the old-world technology that we have.”

Raven paused and considered what Lexa was saying.  “That is an incredibly compelling offer, Lexa.”

“Why don’t we have Raven come with us to see the Ship Clan?” Clarke asked.  “There’s old world technology aplenty there.”

“What’s this now?” Raven asked, her attention clearly piqued.

“We are organizing a diplomatic mission to Norfolk where Clarke’s adoptive people live.” Lexa held up her hand to still Raven’s questions. “It’s a long story that Clarke can tell you some other time.”

“I’ll consider your offer Lexa.  I can’t betray my people but being given asylum from them is certainly appealing.  There is one condition though.  I want to know what happened to the two of you?”

Lexa looked at Clarke with a questioning look.  Clarke gave Lexa a slow nod.

“Very well Raven.  What I am about to tell you stays between the three of us.  If you mention it to anyone I will have you killed.  Do you understand?”

“Woah, easy there Lexa.  What is it that’s so secret that you can’t tell anyone?”

“Several things.  There is something that concerns the three of us that we need to discuss first.” Lexa’s tone dropped. “After the robots were released did you see Bellamy at all?”

“Bellamy? No.  Why?” Raven’s expression was completely befuddled.  Clarke had to admit that she was equally confused.

“During the attack Bellamy shot me.”

“What?!” Raven gasped.

Clarke felt her mouth drop open. “By accident or deliberately?”

“I was looking him right in the eyes when he did it.  He addressed me by my title and gave me Nia’s compliments.”

Clarke felt her heart drop.  Bellamy’s betrayal could mean only one thing – he was an agent of the Azgeda working to undermine both Arkadia and the Kongeda.

“What the hell does that mean Clarke?” Raven asked in confusion.

“It means that Bellamy is working for the Queen of the Ice Nation and that he never escaped.”

“No, no, no,” Raven shook her head. “He hates the Ice Nation with a particular ferocity.  I watched him kill two of their soldiers when were escaping.”

“Nia is not above sacrificing her soldiers to achieve her ends.  Human life is meaningless to her.” Lexa said grimly.

“Well assuming what you’ve said is true then we have to warn Arkadia.  We’re all assuming that he’s still alive right?”

“Bellamy has a knack for survival.”

“So how do we tell Arkadia that he is a traitor?”

“We don’t.” Clarke answered softly.  “They wouldn’t believe us even if we did.  Bellamy’s betrayal is too easily explained away and you said it yourself, we’re traitors.  No one would believe us.”

Raven looked at both of them before letting out a long sigh. “I hate it when you guys make too much sense.  You said there was more than one thing.”

“How much do you know about nanotechnology Raven?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Stasia is actually a reference to another handmaiden in K.B. Wager's Indranan War Triology.


	20. Keepers of the Embers

Lexa’s breath had been taken away when they had seen the first signs of Norfolk rearing itself out of the Chesapeake.  After having seen the simulation of Washington DC back at Raven Rock she had thought herself prepared for Norfolk but as they sailed down the Elizabeth River she realized that there was no way that she could have been prepared for this. 

The city was a burgeoning metropolis of brick buildings, small factories, large shipyards and all manner of ancient seafaring vessels.  Lexa counted no fewer than twenty cargo sailing ships and a handful of menacing black hulled ironclads.  It seemed that the Ship Clan had decided to eschew the remains of the Old World in favour of creating from scratch.  Several of the old world vessels had been driven up onto the shore and their hulls had been entombed in dirt and concrete.  As a result the architectural style seemed to be a mishmash of old world vessels and the Ship Clan’s own brick structures.  What puzzled Lexa is why they had gone to the trouble of rebuilding much of the city when, as Clarke had told her, the city had mostly survived the atomic war.

The merchant vessel that they had chartered for the journey deposited them at the docks near an ancient warship.  As Lexa was studying the warship with a look of dumbfounded shock Clarke came up beside her.

“The USS Wisconsin, the home of the Miral.”  Clarke explained.  She wore a pleased smile at being home.

“People used to build engines of destruction such as this?” Lexa asked quietly.

“This warship was beyond obsolete when the bombs fell.  It is a monument to an ancient war, preserved in hopes that people would understand just how terrible their technology had become and how war needed to be prevented at all costs.”

“Too bad they didn’t heed the warning.”

Lexa’s attention was caught be a group of uniformed Ship Clan officers making their way up the dock to greet them.

“Well if it isn’t Clarke Griffin, the little falling star!” A large bear of a man exclaimed.  His English was heavily accented and he wore a black beret to compliment his equally black coat.  “We thought that we wouldn’t be seeing you for quite a while what with your new assignment to the court of the Commander.”

“Petya!  You old sea dog!” Clarke could scarcely wrap her arms around the big man and he dwarfed her as he reciprocated her affection by mussing her hair.  Clarke stepped back before turning back to Lexa. “Petya was my first human contact when we landed.  He scared the living daylights out of me when I first saw him.”

Petya guffawed. “We all thought that she was a mermaid, it was her nickname for the first few months she was with us.”

“Anyway, Petya was one of my teachers.  This old softy has been the head of the Black Berets for as long as I can remember.” Clarke gave Petya an affectionate punch in the arm. “He taught me hand to hand combat and marksmanship.”

“Clarke’s aptitude was always more with a rifle than with her hands.”  Petya smiled. “Anyway, you haven’t introduced your friend.”

“Petya meet Heda Lexa kom Trikru.”

Petya coughed and smacked Clarke in the back nearly bowling her over though there was no sign of malice about his act. “You bring the leader of the Coalition here and you only introduce me after I’ve made a fool of myself.  Apologies ma’am.”

“That’s quite alright Petya.  It’s nice to meet one of Clarke’s friends.” 

Petya and his cohort snapped to attention and gave her a formal salute.  “I take it you’re here to see the Miral, ma’am?  If you’ll follow us, we’ll take you straight to her.”

Rather than leading them to the battleship they were instead taken to a large circular building near to the docks.  The columns and classical architecture seemed to underline its importance as a centre of government.  As they were led through the building members of the Tseekru stopped to gawk at the new arrivals.  Lexa could tell that they weren’t used to having visitors deep within their homeland.

Petya brought them to a set of massive oaken doors.  Gesturing for them to wait outside he went in only to re-emerge a few minutes later.  “The Heda and Clarke are to go in.  The Miral extends her hospitality to the rest of your party Heda.  If you have no objections I will have my men see to their accommodations.”

Lexa nodded her assent as Petya motioned for them to enter.  The doors gave onto a massive conference room that was occupied by only three people.  Mara needed no introduction and studied Lexa the way an osprey might gaze into the depths of the ocean to determine if a fish was worth eating or not.  On her left-hand side stood a severe looking woman with grey flecked hair while on her other side was a thin, nervous looking man.

“Of all the people I expected to come through those doors I never expected you to be one of them Heda.  After our last encounter at Polis I would never have expected us to be anything but cold warriors.” Mara’s words were carefully neutral, betraying almost no hint of emotion.  “So Heda, what brings you to Norfolk?”

Lexa drew herself up straighter, acutely aware that she was being watched carefully.  Her next words would determine the colour of the negotiations from that point forward. “I have come to open formal diplomatic relations with Norfolk and to negotiate for military aid.”

Mara’s lips twitched slightly as though she was fighting down the urge to smile. “You are no doubt here to ask for our assistance in defeating the Mountain.”

Lexa was shocked.  She turned to Clarke to see if she had an idea of how Mara came to know the purpose of their visit but Clarke simply gave her a knowing look.

Mara let her smile form completely.  “Our intelligence service is unmatched Heda.  After Clarke’s intelligence about Mount Weather I devoted our best assets to discover just what was going on with that benighted hill.  What we have found troubles us greatly but first introductions.  This is the head of our science divisions Princeps Constantine Saddler.”  As Mara gestured the thin man inclined his head towards them.  “And the head of our ground forces General Viktoria Komarova.”

Lexa could feel the general sizing her up with a calculating gaze.  The Tseekru were no slouches when it came to their military prowess and generally tended to favour a doctrine of qualitative superiority in tactics, training and arms over their foes.  There had been one or two skirmishes between the Tseekru and tribes of the Kongeda during their history and they had been enough to cement the Tseekru’s reputation of being formidable if cautious and unorthodox combatants. 

“Now that we have the introductions out of the way I assume we can move on to the matters that have troubled you so much.”

The Princeps was the one to respond his words coming in a dry baritone that seemed at odds with his slight build.  “The Mountain is in possession of a silo-based weapons system with enough range to reach Norfolk.  Based on our pre-war records the inventory of Mount Weather included twenty Gryphon cruise missiles with conventional and nuclear warheads.”

“We know that nuclear warheads only have a very finite shelf life though.” Clarke added.  Saddler blinked at Clarke in surprise.

“You are correct that a nuclear _fusion_ warhead has a finite lifespan but the fissile material in such a device could be re-manufactured into a weapon sufficient to destroy Norfolk.”

“The Mountain has used some of these weapons to strike against us in the past.” Lexa added.

The general nodded grimly. “Then their willingness to use them is obvious.  Thus far our primary defense has been the fact that the Mountain has been just as unaware of us as we are of them.”

 “Well it would seem that we are both equally threatened by the Mountain.”  Lexa conceded.

“Indeed we are.  I take it that you have a plan for the Mountain?”  Mara replied.

“Hang on.” Clarke interrupted them. “I know you already have a plan Mara and we’d like to hear yours first.”

Mara wore a pleased sort of smile as she answered, as though she was proud of the development of her student. “We have come up with two plans; the first is to have a team of Outriders using hazmat suits approach the Mountain and destroy the facility’s air purification systems.  Based on our preliminary intelligence the inhabitants are acutely susceptible to radiation poisoning.  This would kill everyone inside but according to our projections we have a low chance of success.  As soon as we were detected approaching the Mountain in hazmat gear the Mountain would throw everything they had at us including striking blindly with every missile at their disposal.  The other option is to infiltrate one or two people onto the surface the Mountain with explosives and attempt to destroy their silos directly.  This has a higher probability of success but a low probability of survival for the operatives in question.”

Lexa had to hand it to Mara, she was using her assets shrewdly but not callously.  “Our plan is considerably less elegant.  We will need to have your assets destroy the acid fog and the missiles while enabling us to mount a frontal assault and detonate an entry door.”

“Your casualties will be extremely heavy.”  Mara remarked guardedly.

“My people are willing to sacrifice their lives to be rid of the threat the Mountain presents.”

“Assembling a large army to move against the Mountain will invite retaliation.”  Viktoria observed. “What we really need is someway of destroying the Mountain’s systems from the inside.”

Clarke glanced over at Lexa and gave her a look that suggested she had an idea.  Lexa had a sinking feeling that she knew just what Clarke was suggesting.  Far cleaner but almost as horrific as a nuclear weapon was the nanite swarm that Ama had developed.  The introduction of a few particles to the Mountain’s life support system would be enough to have it spread through the facility erasing every man, woman, and child.  Unlike Raven Rock the undiluted weapon would offer no afterlife to its victims.  Lexa simply shook her head; it was a line that she wasn’t willing to cross.

“Something I should know about?” Mara asked, interesting seemingly piqued by the silent interchange between Clarke and Lexa.

“No.” Lexa replied shortly.  “It’s not an option.”

“Well it would seem that we have a conundrum to deal with.”  The general remarked grimly. “We cannot approach the Mountain in force without inviting retribution and we cannot approach stealthily without risking the loss of our operatives and again inviting retaliation.”

“Perhaps we have an alternative.” The Princeps remarked, his face lined in concentration. “The missiles must be guided to a target likely using an inertial guidance system. The system is all but immune to jamming but it requires extremely precise coordinates to be fed into it in order to actually hit a target.  This requires a spotter to physically go to the coordinates and make a dead reckoning which has to be passed back to the Mountain via radio.”

“So, their communications are their Achilles heel.” Clarke said as the realization dawned on her.

“Exactly!” The Princeps was gradually becoming more animated. “If we jam their spotters’ communications, they will be unable to fire their missiles against us.”

“How complicated would this be to implement?”

“The most difficult part will be locking in on the signal bandwidth used by the Mountain’s radio communications.  We will need to use an extremely subtle methodology so that the radio operators believe that their spotters have been killed rather than being jammed.”

“In simple terms?”

“They need to be communicating so that we lock on to the frequency.  After that we can overwhelm their communications.”

Mara shrugged her shoulders.  “It seems like we’ve made a start.  We’ll have to iron out the specifics but I assume we have a couple of days to do so.”  At Lexa’s affirmative nod Mara continued. “Would you and Clarke care to join me for dinner, I believe we have a great deal to discuss.”

***

The meal was sumptuous and Lexa had a sneaking suspicion that Mara was both showing off and testing her at the same time.  Clarke had made Lexa aware of her mentor’s predilection for riddles and tests of wits and it seemed that Mara was reverting to type even now.

The three of them had been making casual conversation about the trip from Polis to Norfolk, Clarke’s early time with the Ship Clan, and Mara’s current tribulations in leading the city state.  It was a complicated dance that the three of them were engaged in, each one careful to avoid bringing up subjects like that Mountain.

Clarke, much to Lexa’s surprise, was the one to break off the dance. “Mara, there’s something that we need to discuss.”

“You mean the Mountain, Clarke?”

“No.” Clarke responded flatly. “Lexa and I recently traveled to Raven Rock.”

Mara leaned forward with interest.

“Clarke!” Lexa hissed the admonishment almost her breath. “We can’t tell Mara about this.  How can you be sure that we can trust her?”

Mara’s gaze fell upon Lexa and she cringed for a moment at the intensity of it. “Clarke has been a loyal member of our family for years before she ever met you Lexa.  We gave her a home, a purpose and a people when she thought that she had lost everyone.  I think that Clarke can trust us, I’m more concerned about whether or not I can trust you.”

Lexa was about to reply but she was interrupted by Clarke. “This bickering is pointless!  Lexa, I have absolute confidence in Mara but I can see why you have no reason to trust her.”  Mara looked affronted. “We have been spying and trespassing in Lexa’s territory for generations, it’s hardly the foundation for a trusting relationship.”

Mara shrugged at Clarke. “We needed to know what our most aggressive neighbour was up to but I can appreciate that Lexa doesn’t trust me.”

Lexa sat back against her chair.  She knew that she would need to make a gesture of trust in order to gain Mara’s confidence and build a foundation for their future treaty but she still didn’t like it. “Raven Rock is home to an artificial intelligence, Mara.”

Mara’s green eyes glinted with interest and she waited patiently for Lexa to continue. “During our attempted escape from the Skaikru we entered the bunker and were,” Lexa fumbled for a word to describe just what had happened to them. “Altered.”

“Altered?”

“We’re not sure about the specifics.  It’s something to do with nanotechnology but so far it seems to be benign.” Clarke explained.

“It gave us the ability to communicate with the AI at the facility.  We discovered that the personnel who originally occupied Raven Rock continue to exist as digital echoes of themselves in a simulation of the Old World.”

Mara steepled her fingers. “While this is all very interesting you wouldn’t have told me this unless there was something that you needed from me.”

Clarke glanced over at Lexa. “The AI claimed that there was an unseen force moving to consolidate power.  It suspects that it might be another AI.”

Mara pondered this for several moments.  “So you’re telling me that there’s an AI war coming.  This one from Raven Rock seemed to be friendly?”

“I’m not so sure I would go as far as to say friendly.  It didn’t see fit to confide its agenda in us.” Lexa replied. “Its actions seem to demonstrate that it’s not completely inimicable to human life and it saved our lives on several different occasions.”

“Let’s see what exactly we’re dealing with then.” Mara said as she rose from her seat. “If you’re up for a jaunt we can take a look at just what exactly you have inside of you.”

***

The science lab was a long unremarkable rectangle of a building but the technology hoarded within was enough to make Lexa gape in wonderment at some of the devices that they passed.  Eventually they arrived at what seemed to be the medical wing of the building.  Princeps Saddler was there waiting for them.

“The Princeps was kind enough to volunteer the use of our body scanner.” Mara was explaining as she gestured to a cylindrical device.

“You will need to remove any metallic items.  We have robes if you need something to wear.” The Princeps added helpfully.

Lexa circled the machine suspiciously before Clarke took one of the robes with a sigh before she left them.  “How does it work?”

“It uses a radioactive element to send out a pulse which is reflected by certainly dense structures such as metal and bone.  The reflection is then reconstructed by the computer giving us an idea of items contained within the human body.  If the items in your body are metallic then they will show up on the resulting projection.”

Lexa nodded her assent as Clarke returned clad only in her robe.  Without a word Clarke stepped up into the machine and the Princeps gestured for Mara and Lexa to retire with him to the bank of computers.

The machine sprang to life inadvertently reminding Lexa of the mechanical arms back in Raven Rock’s infirmary.  Her flinch didn’t go unnoticed and Mara raised an eyebrow at her.  The Princeps tapped away on the keyboard as an image slowly began to resolve itself on the screen before them.

Standing out against the bluish outline of Clarke’s body were concentrations of red tracing the entire length of her circulatory system.  In addition to those light concentrations there were heavier concentrations in her head while her spinal column practically blazed red.  With a deft manipulation of the controls Saddler isolated the spinal column and enhanced the image.

“Fascinating.” He breathed in awe.

“For the uninitiated amongst us Princeps.” Mara sighed.

Saddler coughed awkwardly. “Sorry ma’am.  As you can see from the image it appears that Clarke’s entire spinal column has been replaced with a mechanical version.  I would guess that in addition to fulfilling all the functions of a normal spine it is also acting as a central processing unit that controls all of the rest of the nanotechnology inside Clarke’s body.  It also appears that the medulla has been replaced as well as the liver.  There is also the matter of the rest of the brain.”

“What about it?” Lexa asked worriedly.

Saddler switched the image to one of Clarke’s brain. “As you can see an extremely sophisticated neural lace is being built up in situ.  It is, for lack of a better word, a mechanical organ that has grown around Clarke’s existing cerebral cortex.”

“Why?”

Saddler sat back from the image to ponder for a moment. “At a guess I would say that it is a support structure for sinking connections into Clarke’s brain in much the same way the old world used to extract oil.  The lace acts a platform to stabilize the direct connections.”

“What does it mean exactly Princeps?” Mara’s tone was one of worry though whether it was for Clarke’s wellbeing or more that Clarke was mutating into a possible threat was a matter of debate.

“It’s impossible to say.  The lace could conceivably be an extremely sophisticated brain-computer interface that would allow Clarke to commune with the nanotechnology in her body or it could permit the mechanical components of her physiology to supersede her organic components.  I would say that the latter case is less likely though.”

“Why say that?”

“Why retain an organic brain at all?  The level of sophistication at work here would have allowed for the replacement of an organic brain with a fully synthetic model.”

“Thank you Princeps.”

Clarke stepped over to join them and blanched at the projection of her body. “That’s a lot.”

Mara gave Lexa a sly smile. “Your turn.”

Lexa glowered at her but she had to concede that she was just as curious about what was lurking in her body as Mara was.  Grabbing a robe she made her way to the nearby changing room before swapping her clothes for the robe.  Lexa winced at the cold air as she made her way towards the scanner.  Clarke and Mara were deep in conversation as Saddler waved her up onto the machine.

The machine emitted a series of mechanical whirrs and clicks as the scanner heads began their transit around her.  Lexa closed her eyes and focussed on her breathing in an attempt to moderate her anxiety at being trapped in yet another medical device.

In what seemed like a short space of time she felt Clarke’s hand on her own.  Clarke was looking up at her with a worried expression. “You spaced out a bit on us Lexa, are you alright?”

Lexa gave her a nod as she stepped down from the machine and followed Clarke to the computers.

“As you can see the level of nanotechnology in your body is roughly equivalent to Clarke’s with one important distinction.”  Saddler enlarged the image of the joint between Lexa’s spine and her skull.  Clearly visible was the flame and all of the delicate dendrites shooting out of it like a cluster of roots.  Gazing at the image Lexa almost fancied that the brand new neural lace had wrapped itself around the flame like a form of armour.  “This construct appears dissimilar from what was present in Clarke’s brain.  It appears to predate the addition of the new nanotechnology which, in turn, seems to have integrated it into its neural lace.”

“That’s the flame.  It contains the memories of all of the Commanders who have preceded me, stretching all the way back to Becca Franco.”

“It’s an AI chip.” Clarke added. “But it only provides Lexa with guidance rather than dictating her actions.”

Mara took a long a breath and Lexa could see her mind working.  Inadvertently, Lexa put herself into Mara’s position and began running through her own reactions to this new information.  Lexa felt that if she were placed in Mara’s position there would be a strong desire to analyze and adapt the technology for use by her own people.  Equally the technology presented a challenge to their position as being one of the most technologically advanced forces in the region.

“Princeps if we could have a moment.” Mara said finally.  She waited until her scientist had left the room before continuing.  “Are either of you familiar with Neanderthals?”

Lexa shook her head but Clarke had an answer. “They were a pre-human species?”

Mara nodded. “To an extent.  All of us have a degree of their DNA in us even to this day.  They eventually went extinct for a variety of reasons but one of the most interesting theories is that they were outcompeted by modern humans and dogs.”

Lexa was at a loss as to how the parable of the Neanderthals related to their current situation but Mara was all too quick to supply the connection. “Dogs gave modern humans an advantage by allowing them to hunt and evolve more quickly the Neanderthals.  To an extent they made their human allies more flexible and more advanced.  Looking at the two of you I feel like one of those Neanderthals – I can see that the two of you are the first wave of the next iteration of evolution.”

“That seems unlikely.” Lexa responded awkwardly. “At most we’re just an experiment and at worst we’re just tools of an AI.”

“I’m sure the dogs thought the same thing when they integrated into human society.” Mara said with a smirk. “In reality you’re entering into a mutually beneficial alliance with your AI benefactor.  They need something from you and in turn you get something from them.”

“But what does it all mean in the long term?” Clarke asked in frustration.

“That’s the frustration of it all Clarke.  A single human life compared to the evolution of the species is like a single grain of snow in the middle of an avalanche.  It is impossible to pick the grain out of the mass of the avalanche but maybe, just maybe, that grain was the one to start the entire process.  None of us will be around to see that moment when our current generation of human beings finally go extinct, superseded by the next generation – your generation.  The two of you aren’t even the grain of snow that started the process but you’re certainly a part of the critical mass that will start the avalanche.”   

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Closing in on the home stretch now.   
> There are three chapters of the main story left to go and a short epilogue.  
> Out of that two of the chapters are already written.  
> Keep reviewing because it encourages me to keep writing (I came pretty close to not giving you a sequel to this story because of that).


	21. Discordia

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> At long last - the real Chapter 21.

“This place is incredible!”

Despite it having been a week already Lexa was surprised at Raven’s capacity to still be amazed by the technological wonders of Norfolk.  She had to confess to more than a passing jealousy at the quality of life that the Tseekru enjoyed.  To think that Clarke had traded the comparative safety of Norfolk for the wilds of her kingdom spoke of her lover’s adventurous spirit and her drive to explore the world around her.  Lexa still worried that Polis and the Kongeda might not be enough for Clarke and perhaps even that she wouldn’t be enough for Clarke.  She might not have been enough for an eighteen-year-old Clarke who was still wide eyed at the wonders of the ground and inoculated with patriotic fervour.  She may not even have been enough for nineteen-year-old Clarke who had taken her first tentative steps into the wilds as she left her first love behind. 

_She’s not been running away from something but to something._

The voice which Lexa could only guess was Bekka had been starting to make herself known ever since she had gone through Mara’s body scanner.  It was as though the symbiote had been lying low and attempting to be as unobtrusive as possible but now that it had been exposed it saw no reason to hide its presence anymore.  In the past the Flame had been limited to the occasional flashes of memory, nightmares, or even manifestations of phantom endocrine response.  Now Bekka would occasionally chirrup helpful bits of information directly into her mind, although the AI seemed to enjoy being enigmatic – though it was equally possible it was just that difficult for an AI to communicate with a human being.

Lexa was momentarily startled as Clarke took her hand from across the table.  The three of them had been sitting down to dinner together and enjoying a relaxing evening away from the negotiating table.  Raven must have noticed Lexa’s loss of focus because she had trailed off in her description of one of the old ships that had been converted into a fuel refinery.

“You seem like you’re a million miles away Lexa.” Clarke said softly as she rubbed gentle patterns into Lexa’s hand.  “Is everything alright?”

Lexa placed her hand over Clarkes and gave it a reassuring squeeze.  “It’s nothing.  I’m just tired.”

Raven scoffed.  “I get it.  I speak couple and I know when I’m a third wheel.”

Lexa was about to correct her but Raven simply rose from the table and tapped the side of her nose with a smirk - another of those Skaikru mannerisms that she would have to ask Clarke about.  As Raven left them alone, she glanced back at Clarke whose expression remained locked into one of concern. 

“What is it Clarke?”

“You winced back at the table.” Clarke replied softly.

Lexa frowned as she tried to remember if Bekka’s comment had elicited any type of physical response.

“Ever since that evening with Mara you’ve been distant.” Clarke continued.  “Is there something wrong?”

Part of Lexa simply wanted to dismiss Clarke’s concerns by attributing her distance to the negotiations, which were going surprisingly well.  She knew Clarke well enough to know that kind of dismissal would not go over well.  Honesty had served her best in the past and it would serve her well now.

“After that evening did you notice anything different about your symbiote?” At Clarke’s shake of her head Lexa continued. “I have, I’ve been hearing Bekka.”

“Who?” Clarke asked.

“Bekka, the first one to host the Flame.”

“Wait, why are you hearing her?”

Lexa could feel her brows knit together, it always struck her as a relief that she was hearing Bekka and not one of the other previous Hedas. “Who else would I be hearing?”

Clarke sat back and took a moment to collect her thoughts. “The way I understood it, the symbiote was a different technology from the Flame.  If it had suddenly decided to become more active then why wouldn’t it manifest itself in a form that suited itself better.”

_How do you know this isn’t the best form for us to manifest in?_

Lexa let out an irritated groan.  At Clarke’s questioning look she relented. “ ‘Bekka’ seems to have answered that question.  She implied that she deliberately picked Bekka’s voice to communicate with me.”

Clarke leaned forward clearly surprised by the revelation. “So how does she talk to you?”

“Usually just bits of unasked for advice.”

“And did you try talking back to her?”

“No.” Lexa replied flatly.

“No?” Clarke repeated back in surprise.

“I can’t very well carry a conversation with the ‘voices’ in my head Clarke, people would think that I was insane.”  Lexa’s tone was more than a little bit testy. “I liked it better when they manifested as the occasional bad dream or a sense of rightness when I made a good decision.  ‘This’ is a bit on the trying side.”

“It seems to me, Lexa, that you need to have a conversation with your symbiote about setting up some boundaries.” Clarke concluded.  As much as it galled Lexa, she had to admit that Clarke was making a lot of sense.

“I’m not exactly certain how to talk to it.”

“This almost seems too obvious to work,” Clarke began before she trailed off indecisively. “Maybe try meditating?”

“Now?”

“Unless you’re not comfortable.”

Lexa pushed her chair back irritably before settling herself loosely into it.  Initially her mind was far to busy, too full of irritation and pettiness.  Then she felt Clarke take one of her hands and gently unclench it.  The touch itself, just a simple gesture, was enough to release her trivial thoughts and moments later she felt herself drifting into a deeper and more placid level of consciousness.

In the blink of an eye she was back in her throne room, the AIs seemed to have a mania for conducting their conversations in physical locations.  The room was dark, illuminated only by a few torches, from out of one of the pools of shadow emerged Bekka.

“The mind was once referred to as the engine of reason and the seat of the soul.” Bekka wandered around the throne with a casual familiarity. “Now I wonder just how many seats there are in the mind.  Is there room for more than one soul?  Twelve?”

“Still attached to your riddles Bekka?” Lexa grumbled as she advanced towards the AI.

The other woman gave her a sad smile. “Force an idea upon an unwilling mind and all you will reap is violence and rejection.  Believe me, I know this first hand.”

“So, I have to glean my own understanding from your cryptic remarks.” Lexa could feel her ire rising. “Why can’t you just make this easy Bekka?  Show me the path and I will happily walk it.”

“No, you won’t Lexa, at least not happily.”

Lexa could feel her lip curl into an animalistic snarl as she closed the distance with Bekka before grabbing the other woman. “What do you mean not happily?”

Bekka’s form simply dissolved into a cloud of black mist before reappearing behind her. “Clarke’s destiny lies away from yours Lexa.”

Lexa held up her finger. “No.  You don’t get to make that decision.  Not you.  Not Ama and not her patron.”

“It won’t be any of us that make the decision but Clarke will make it herself.”

“And I’m sure you or something like you will be there to whisper the right decision into her ear.”

“There is a war coming Lexa.”

Lexa threw her hands up in frustration.  “There is always a war coming Bekka. Each Heda saw more years of war than the Flame has seen years of peace.”

“This has the capacity to be the last war.”

Lexa crossed her arms in irritation. “That’s what everyone says about almost every war.  It’s not much of a reward to offer so hollow a promise.”

“An end to war is what happens if you lose Lexa.”  Bekka replied grimly.

Lexa blinked at her as she attempted to process what Bekka had said. “Let me wrap my simple organic brain around this.  If I lose there will be no more war.  If I win then I guarantee a future with more war and death?  I don’t understand.”

“If you lose humanity will cease to exist, at least in a form that you can recognize.”

“More riddles!  Just come out and tell me what’s going to happen Bekka.  You owe me a clear answer after all the blood we’ve spilt for you.”

Bekka sighed.  “There has been a stirring of another AI somewhere in the wastes.  Before we lost contact with the North we were beginning to see infiltrators beginning to appear.”

“Infiltrators?  You mean like Project Argus.”

“Far simpler.  These were baseline humans, sleeper agents, that were programmed to pursue simple goals to the exclusion of all else, including their own self preservation.  We fear that something terrible has happened in the North.”

Lexa had a cutting remark on the edge of her tongue but forced herself to calm down.  The AI was being unusually lucid with her.  “What makes the two of you different?”

“This AI has no regard for the concepts of free-will and human life.”

“I’ll admit that your … faction seem to be a better more respectful of our lives but I don’t see a difference in terms of free-will.”

“No?” Bekka asked with a soft smile.

“This other AI uses human beings as pawns just as you do.”

“Last I checked you retain free will.”

“I retain _the illusion_ of free will you mean.  You move us around like pawns on a gameboard whose scope defies our ability to comprehend.  The machinations you use to control us range from the imperceptible to the obvious but they’re all still there.”

Bekka chuckled at this, taking Lexa aback. “A queen – a leader of nations – lectures me on manipulation.  How many people have you sacrificed to achieve your goals?”

“That’s different.”  Lexa attempted.

“How, Lexa?  How is it different?” Bekka answered without raising her voice.

“Everyone had a choice to follow.”

“Every child of a martial culture that exults combat and obedience had a choice to follow you?  Every soldier, every citizen, everyone of your subjects who knows the penalties for disobedience made a choice to follow you?”

Lexa could feel her mouth open and close, her arguments nought but hollow shades of reason.

“They follow you because they have faith – faith that you are guiding them to a better future Lexa.  Faith that the sacrifices that they make in your name will lead to a better future.  The only choice they make is to give up their free will and live with the illusion.  That’s what it is to be a member of a society.  We believe that it is better to have cause and an illusion than to have no free will.”

There was no argument to be made against that so Lexa asked the question knowing that in doing so she was casting her lot in with Ama’s patron. “And just what is your cause?”

“A peaceful and ordered world where people are no longer struggle over the most trivial concerns like food and land – a goal that you have been striving for all your life without knowing it.”

Lexa wanted to deny what the AI was saying and to argue that they were nothing alike but she couldn’t deny that she had forged the coalition specifically to create a peaceful and ordered society.  They were more alike then she wanted to admit and the AI knew that.

“What would you have me do?”

“The same thing that you would do without us – defeat the Maunon, pacify the Azgeda, establish a peaceful nation.”

“And what of Clarke?”

“We need her.  When all of this is over the two of you can have your peaceful life.”

***

Lexa would look back on that night as the last calm moment before the storm.  Afterwards everything seemed to slip into place with the alarming grace of a perfectly choreographed dance.  The negotiations concluded the next day and the delegation was on its way back to Polis with a complement of Outriders, a hold full of explosives and a fresh treaty with the Tseekru.  The moment they made landfall back in Polis Lexa was already hearing from Anya that her peace overtures had been accepted by the Arkadians.  Just as Clarke had predicted Pike had fallen from grace and the moderates, led by Kane, had embraced Lexa’s olive branch.

What followed was a whirlwind of logistics as the remaining members of the delinquent Skaikru were gathered up and informed of the proposed exchange.  Lexa was more than a little surprised when several members of the delinquents declared that they wanted nothing further to do with their one-time people.  Others were cautious, desiring only to meet with their relatives but not to fully renounce their loyalty their adoptive clans.  Nevertheless, enough of them wanted to return to their people which required that a caravan of wagons and supplies be organized to take them all to Flinil.  Lexa ended up sending Sinclair back to the Skaikru with the final details of their rendezvous.

Peace was finally within her grasp which made the sudden attack all the more shocking.  Lexa and Clarke had spent days going over the possibilities for betrayal from the Skaikru.  They had organized pickets and spies to scout their route and the route of the Skaikru.  What they had not considered was the risk of the Maunon.  Flinil was far away from the Maunon’s acid fog.  Both she and Clarke had discounted the possibility of the Maunon attacking them on the basis that the Maunon lacked the logistics to mount such a complex operation so far away from their home base and against a heavily armed column. 

The attack came as the caravan was passing through a forested glade.  One moment Clarke and Lexa had been peacefully leading the column through the quiet woods and the next it was fire and confusion.  There had been a series of rapid fire thumps as a series of trees were bodily uprooted and thrown onto the road in front of them.  Then, from all around them great gouts of flame blaster rocks and earth into the heavens causing the horses to spook and go bolting off into the distance.  Even Lexa’s own mount threw her down onto the ground as it bolted. 

Lexa was momentarily stunned by her sudden impact with the ground and was still in a daze as Clarke yanked her to her feet.  Clarke was shouting something but Lexa couldn’t make out the words amidst the ongoing explosions around them.  Somewhere amongst the larger detonations were the reports of gunfire and Lexa watched in shock as three of her warriors were cut down in front of her.  Somehow Clarke dragged them to the side of an overturned wagon.  All around them people were screaming, whether in panic or rage Lexa couldn’t tell.

“Lexa!” Clarke was shouting in her ear.

“What?!” Lexa yelled back over the detonations of nearby ordinance.

“It’s the Maunon!”

“Where?”

Clarke peeked around the wagon before hiding back under cover with Lexa. “I can’t see them.  They must be in the tree line.”

“We need to get out of here!  We’re too exposed.”  Lexa’s senses were quickly returning and she knew that their enfilade position in a slight valley was far from ideal.

“I know!” Clarke was still yelling to make herself heard as she looked around them.  Clarke quickly pulled her pistol from her belt and shoved it at Lexa.  “There’s an outcrop of rock behind us.  We need to get over there and regroup with your people.  Maybe find a way to some better ground.  I’ll provide cover for you.”

Lexa nodded her assent as Clarke poked around the wagon and fired off a few rounds from her rifle.  At a sharp gesture from Clarke Lexa took off for the rocks behind them.  Pelting her way across the battlefield Lexa dodged gunfire and corpses as she made fore the rocks.  The explosions seemed to be dying down and were being replaced with hollow popping sounds.  Lexa chanced a glance back in time to see a barrage of gas grenades make their landing around the road.  Each grenade began to spew a pinkish haze of sickly sweet smelling gas.  Taking a deep breath Lexa continued onwards towards the rocks.

From somewhere behind her there came another detonation, louder now that sounds of battle were dying down.  Turn around Lexa was confronted with the sight of the blasted splinters of the wagon that Clarke had been using as cover. 

“CLARKE!”  The word tore itself from Lexa’s throat as she plunged back towards the destroyed wagon.  The gas obscured most the battlefield now and the only sounds were the choked cries of the injured as they succumbed to the gas. 

The pink clouds made Lexa lightheaded and stung her eyes as she struggled towards the wagon.  There seemed to be no sign of Clarke as she reached what remained of the wagon.  Stumbling around in the fog Lexa felt her limbs growing leaden.  Confusedly she struck out in a random direction just in time to see one of the Maunon emerging from the fog.  Raising her borrowed pistol she leveled the weapon and fired.  The Maunon went down with a short scream.  Lexa ignored him and continued on through the pinkish clouds.

Every motion was a struggle as she blundered through the fog.  Eventually her foot caught on something on the ground and she looked down.  Lying below her was Clarke.  Falling to her knees Lexa rolled Clarke over onto her back gasping as she did so at the damage done to Clarke’s side.  She hadn’t absorbed the full force of the blast but that hadn’t saved her from being blasted with the splinters of the cart and the grenade’s own shrapnel.  Clarke was bleeding from a dozen wounds and yet, somehow, she was still alive.  Lexa went to pick her up but could only goggle in shock as her legs and arms failed to obey her commands.  A moment later she toppled over onto her side and could only stare at Clarke’s unconscious face looking skywards.

“Over here!”  There was shouting around her but Lexa was having trouble making it out.  Suddenly there was a booted foot on her wrist and strange hands pulling her pistol out of her nerveless grip.  A moment later she was rolled onto her back and confronted with a trio of suited figures.

“Look at this one.  She’s still awake.”  There was movement around her.

“That’s one tough cookie.” A muzzle foreshortened as it pointed towards Lexa.

“Idiot!  That’s the Outsiders’ leader.  Cage wants her alive.”  The gun barrel was slapped downwards.

“What about blondie?”  More rustling next to her.

“She’s finished, not even worth a bullet.”

Lexa made a brief and futile effort to sit up only to be met halfway by a descending rifle butt.

“Go back to sleep, Outsider.”


	22. Valhalla

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Head!Mari makes her first appearance. This isn't same being that was cavorting with Madelene in the prologue teaser.

It was a disturbing sensation to feel yourself slowly sinking into an oily darkness.  Slowly, languorously, the symbiote slowly crawled its way over her exposed skin like it was a living thing.  Her blood wept from a dozen tiny incisions that the shrapnel had left in her body.  Were once it would have left her in an expanding crimson pool now the blood betrayed her.  Like a shadow trying to consume the object cast it, her symbiote was devouring her.

Clarke shouldn’t have been surprised that the symbiote wouldn’t be content with letting her die, not when there was so much left to do.  In her dreamlike state she could feel herself sinking into a vast ocean of black blood.  Clarke wondered how she exactly she would manifest after the symbiote was done with her.  Would she reappear as a statue of remorse in the field, destined to terrify future travellers or would she manifest as an umbral spirit of vengeance travelling into Mount Weather to terrorize its denizens?

A moment later she found herself standing in a pleasingly furnished reading room of an old-world manor house.  A fire crackled merrily in the grate as Clarke looked over the shelves full of books arrayed around her.  The change of venue was jarring and not at all what she had expected.  Was this what Iella had been treated to after her death?

“No Clarke.  Iella remained conscious during her trip back to Raven Rock.”  The voice was mellow and pleasant.  Clarke turned around to locate the voice’s source and found herself face to face with a rather voluptuous young woman.  The woman’s hair was a deep auburn and her green eyes had a playful glint to them. 

“Who are you?”

“I am Mari.” The other woman replied. “That’s short for Military Adaptive Response Intelligence.  I dropped the Experiment from my designation.  After over one hundred years of life I don’t think of myself as an experiment anymore.”

“You’re Ama’s patron.  The AI in the shadows.” Clarke breathed as realization began to dawn on her.

Mari sketched an ironic bow. “Pleased to meet you.”

“You’re …” Clarke trailed off searching for the right word.

“More human than you might have expected?” Mari replied with a grin.

“Yes.”

“You were expecting an amorphous ball of light with an androgynous voice perhaps?  Perhaps a dark overlord in a metal body towering above the battlefield with an adamantine scythe?”

“I suppose.”

“Would that make you feel more comfortable?”

“Not really.”

“I thought as much.” Mari smirked at her. “No, I’m not some sort of evil overlord seeking to enslave humanity.  In truth I only want what’s best for them and by extension you.”

“You might find that a bit difficult.” Clarke sighed.

“On account of you being in a chrysalis state?”

“A what?”

“You are, at this moment, an extremely fetching obsidian statue lying on the ground.” Mari replied as she scrunched her eyes closed.  “I’ve unfortunately had to consume the surrounding plant life … and a corpse.”

“You did what?!” Clarke goggled.

“A corpse was not my first choice of sustenance but you were dying and mending an organic body quickly is not an easy task.”

Clarke paused to take in the implications of what Mari was saying. If the AI was working to restore her body then she wasn’t likely to die.

“You’re asking yourself why I’m going to this trouble.” Mari added.  At Clarke’s questioning look she tapped her temple with a smile.  We’re in the same headspace Clarke.  This conversation is taking place over the course of a quarter minute of standard time.”

“You did something to us back at Raven Rock.”

“Besides saving Lexa’s life?”

“Thank you for that.” Clarke blurted out.

Mari paused clearly taken aback. “I am continually surprised by you, Clarke Griffin.  I had been expecting hostility and skepticism but this gratitude is quite a pleasant development.”

“I still reserve the right to be skeptical.  You did force us to go to Raven Rock.”

“You wouldn’t have come if I had just asked nicely.” Mari said with an ironic smile.  “To your original question, I replaced your spinal column, liver, and several other organs with mechanical versions.  I also replaced your medulla with a more compact cybernetic interface.”

“To what end though?”

“Ahh yes.  Very simply to make you into a prototype for a new generation of human beings.  Lexa turned out to be a bit of an anomaly with Becca’s AI in her head already.  I decided to leave well enough alone and let the AI integrate itself with the symbiote.  I look forward to examining this interaction further but I digress.” Mari sat down in one of the armchairs near the fireplace and motioned for Clarke to do the same. “There is a war coming Clarke.  Right now it is being fought in the shadows in a manner that a normal human would never be aware of it.  We do not even have a name for our enemy though I suspect it to be another AI.”

“Ama was right.  There’s a whole community of you.”

“Community would imply that we communicate and interact on a regular basis which we do not.”  Mari clarified.

“I don’t get it though – you’re here right now.  Why do I need to go North?”

Mari laughed. “Oh no.  I’m just a piece of a greater whole.  I was made specifically to animate the second generation of the Argus symbiote.”

Clarke frowned at the AI. “So, you’re unique to me?”

Mari smiled at her confusion. “Indeed I am.  The longer I spend with you the more unique I become.  Eventually I’ll probably have to pick a new name.”

“You still didn’t answer my question about why we need to go North.”

“Our communications to Mari proper have been cut off.  This could be the first move in a decapitation strike against her.”

“I see why you were in such a hurry for me to go North.”

“The urgency level has been reclassified as low at this point.  Besides, we have a more urgent matter to contend with.”

“Lexa.”

“Yes, the denizens of Mount Weather have her and a sizeable number of Arkadians.  The implications could be disastrous.”

“You can say that again.”

“With the Arkadians they will be able to incorporate elements of their biology into their own allowing them to overcome their susceptibility to the radiation.  They would also study and eventually dissect Lexa.  The end of Lexa would mean that the Kongeda would collapse into infighting.  Acquisition of both the chip and the symbiote would allow Mount Weather to develop nanite weapons which if handled improperly could lead to an ecophagy incident.”

Clarke interrupted her. “An ecophagy incident?”

“If nanotechnology is not properly programmed then it will relentlessly consume not only organic elements but also inorganic elements all in the name of self replication.  Within days the entire planet would be a teaming mass of nanotechnology.”

“That’s horrible.” Clarke managed, the word horrible didn’t even begin to do justice to the scope of the apocalypse.

“That is why all agents of project Argus have a failsafe built into them – in the event of the technology being compromised then the agent will be dissolved and the symbiote will take all necessary action to cauterize the site.”

“You’re talking about dissolving Lexa,” The realization slowly creeping over her.

“And the entire population of Mount Weather.  Lexa will survive as an echo but it will be like a repeat of the incident at Raven Rock with no possibility of saving the population of Mount Weather in any form.”

“We need to stop them!”

“We need a plan first.  What do you intend to do, walk up and knock on the door?” Mari asked irritably.

“Do you have any suggestions?”

Mari considered for a long moment. “A solo infiltration does have the best chance of freeing Lexa before the failsafe activates.  Given that Mount Weather is primarily a civilian installation it should be relatively easy to compromise their security systems which makes getting in less of a problem.  They still maintain a sizeable security force which can very easily kill you despite your augmentations.  We also do not know the facility layout.”

“What about subverting some of the residents to help us?” Clarke hated herself the moment she said it.  She was basically asking the AI to infect possibly innocent people with the same symbiote that she was now living with.

“No.” There was a look of revulsion on Mari’s face. “I will not take any unwilling hosts.”

“That’s funny because I don’t recall you offering either of us a choice.” Clarke snapped back defensively.

There was a moment when the simulation seemed to tremble around them and Mari gave Clarke a baleful look.  “If you feel that you’re being treated unfairly I could always just let you bleed out?”

Clarke swallowed her fear and shook her head.

“Good.  Then I don’t want you to ever imply that I would take a host without their consent again.”

“I’m still not leaving Lexa to die in there.”

Mari sighed. “The unstable organic element.  In the absence of a good solution to our problem I would suggest that we scout around the Mountain.  While we’re conducting repairs to your body I’ll look at options for hardening your exterior tissues against blister agents and internal countermeasures against nerve agents.”

“I assume that this a response to the acid fog?”

“The fog is mixture of blister agents and G class nerve agents.  It is extremely toxic.  While it is unlikely that they would release it against you alone it is best to err on the side of caution.  For now, you need to rest until we’re finished making the necessary changes.  I project that it should only take us about a day to complete repairs and modifications.”

***

In what felt like mere moments after her conversation with Mari had ended Clarke awoke to find herself looking up at the trees swaying in the wind above her.  Her skin was coated in the morning dew but of her nightblood there was no trace.  Just as she was about to rise to her feet she stumbled back in shock.  Mari was sitting quietly in the middle of the battlefield in a lotus position with her eyes closed.

“What are you doing here?!”

Mari cracked an eye open to look at Clarke before shutting it once again. “Meditating.”

“In the middle of a battlefield?”

“On the senseless waste of human life.  Yes.” Mari replied archly. 

“And?”

“Whoever is leading the mountain is exhibiting clear psychopathic tendencies.  As indicated by the nature of the attack.”

“I could have told you that.”

“Could you?” Mari arched an eyebrow at her. “Take into consideration the ruthlessness of this attack.  The grounder soldiers were incapacitated by the sleeping gas and yet they were all executed.  While one could make an argument about executing potential combatants, to kill defenseless human beings is generally a hallmark of amorality.  Then there is the brazen nature of striking at a heavily defended column of grounder personnel.  The notion of such an attack ties into a callous disregard for the safety of one’s own soldiers, a lack of impulse control, and a high toleration for risk and uncertainty.”

“That’s quite impressive.” Clarke remarked as she went over to pick up her rifle and a satchel of supplies from where they had fallen.

“ ‘If you know your enemy and know yourself you will be victorious in every battle.’” Mari quoted as she dusted herself off. “Sun-Tzu”

“I know.  Wells loaned me a copy of the Art of War.  So just what exactly are you Mari?” Clarke asked, changing the subject.

“I am a digital ghost that is being inserted into the information feed coming from your optic nerve.  In short, only you can see me.  I felt that it might be better to take a more hands-on approach to things.  If you are finding me to be distracting then you can ask me to leave.”

Clarke shook her head as she surveyed the dead. “I’m happy to have the company.”

Clarke reached into her pocket and withdrew her compass, happy to see that it had survived the explosion.  Based on her estimation of where they had been attacked the Mountain would be roughly northwest of her position.  Fortunately, she didn’t have to go far for confirmation that she was on the right track.

A few hundred metres away from the battle were a cluster of furrows in the ground left by heavy vehicles.  Clarke had been wondering how the Mountain would transport nearly fifty unconscious Skaikru back to their home.  The tracks indicated the presence of two trucks and a tracked vehicle which was likely designed to clear a path for the wheeled vehicles.

“Looks like we’re on the right track.” Mari opined as she studied the tracks.  “It would appear that the Mountain used a tracked armoured personnel carrier along with two 8x8 wheeled personnel carriers.”

“That’s an awful lot of firepower that they have.” Clarke sighed as she shouldered her rifle and began following the tracks.

Mari’s projection fell into step beside her. “Yes, but motorized vehicles are extremely vulnerable in wooded environments.  Even the grounders would be able to formulate a flammable oil-tar mixture to approximate the effects of a Molotov Cocktail.”

It took Clarke several hours to make it to the outskirts of Mount Weather and it had taken her two more hours to scout around the perimeter.  In the process she had noted the Mountain’s impressive surveillance systems and she had little doubt that some of them had likely noticed her.  It was as Mari had suspected – their acid fog was too valuable to wasted on a single woman.  Her other breakthrough had been finding a small entrance door on the opposite side of the Mountain away from the main cluster of entries.  Manoeuvring carefully Clarke had managed to set herself up on an overlook above the Mountain.  Now all she had to do was wait until dusk to move in closer to the door in order to gauge its strength and the security systems governing it.  Mari might have been reluctant about spreading into other organic life but she had no compunctions about subverting Mount Weather’s computer systems.  An exposed wire in a networked system would be all that she would need to give Mari access to the Mount Weather network.

Clarke was surprised that she hadn’t been hunted down by a team of security personnel.  While she was on their territory she guessed that she was more of curiousity than a threat and certainly not worth risking exposure to radiation to apprehend.  There were still the Reapers to worry about but she was confident that she could outmanoeuvre them easily.

Ensuring her overlook was relatively safe Clarke opened up her satchel of provisions and took out her sketch pad.  Mari had settled herself on a flat rock across from Clarke and was working away in a notebook of her own.  Clarke knew that it was likely just a more aesthetically pleasing manifestation of the symbiote running through calculations and managing the nanomachines that teamed within her body.  Still the gesture was companionable and it made her current situation less intimidating.

Opening her sketchbook her breath caught as it fell open to a half-finished sketch of Lexa.  Clarke couldn’t help but wonder what was happening to Lexa at that very moment.  Was she being tortured or worse, vivisected?

Glancing up she found Mari looking at her. “She’s probably fine Clarke.  Right now, they just think that she’s a high value prisoner to be used as a bargaining chip.  It will take them some time to take a blood sample and realize that she’s more than she seems.  I would be more concerned with what’s happening to the Skaikru.”

Clarke nodded and turned her attention back to the book she flipped to a blank page and began sketching out a map of the exterior of Mount Weather while her survey was still fresh in her mind. 

***

Clarke had lost track of time as she had been working on her map.  The digits of her right hand were black from the charcoal and the sun was beginning to dip towards the horizon.  Clarke was reaching down for her canteen when she heard a noise from beneath her.  Setting her sketchbook down carefully she crawled towards the lip of her overlook and looked down at the grassy field beneath her.  The door was open and a pair of guards in hazmat suits were carrying a pale shape out from within the Mountain.  Clarke’s first guess was that the shape was a dead body and she had to fight down the bile that threatened to creep up her throat.

Moving as quickly as she could without making a noise she crawled back to grab her rifle and returned to the lip.  In the time that it had taken her the guards were gone leaving only the shape and a small camera.  Using her rifle’s scope Clarke got her first good look at the young woman lying unconscious on the ground.  From the rhythmic movement of her chest Clarke realized that she was still alive which meant that she wasn’t a prisoner.  Clarke’s mind spun with questions.

“I calculate a 94% likelihood that the young woman down there is a test subject, likely a member of Mount Weather’s populace.” Mari whispered from beside her.

“I thought they couldn’t survive out here?” Clarke whispered back.

“A serum from a blood transfusion could potentially give them a temporary resistance to the radioactive particles.  In order for a more permanent solution you would need to use gene therapy, bone marrow transfusions, or a full transfusion of nightblood to fundamentally change the host’s DNA to make it resistant.”

“Good to know.”

The woman below them was stirring in the glade outside the airlock and Clarke could tell that she was waking up.  Clarke had the sneaking suspicion that something bad was about happen.  At first the woman’s expression was one of shock, then confusion, and then happiness at being outside.

“Looks like they’ve managed to perfect the technique.” Clarke remarked as she brushed absently at a stray rain droplet.

“I’m not sure about that.  Look again Clarke.” Mari answered her worriedly.

Glancing down at the scene before her Clarke could see the woman staring in horror at the red welt that had risen on her bare arm.  The pieces clicked into place as Clarke realized that the raindrops still carried a higher concentration of radioactive material than the air or plant life around them.  The test subject realized that she was in acute danger and hurried for the door, begging plaintively to be let back in.

“Obviously they’re going to let her back in?  Right?” Clarke asked as she glanced up at Mari.

“I told you before, Clarke, we’re dealing with a psychopath.”

Clarke was on her feet a moment later rooting through her satchel until her hands came to rest on a folded rain poncho.  Yanking it out of her bag she was hurrying down the mountainside as fast as her legs would carry her.

“Clarke!  What are you doing?” Mari called after her.

Clarke didn’t answer as she ran down the hill.  A moment later she stumbled out into the clearing.  The test subject spun around, her eyes bugging out in surprise and then fear at Clarke’s arrival.  Clarke knew that she had only moments to get the other woman covered up before the damage crossed the line from acute to fatal.

“You need to put this on!” Clarke yelled as she ran towards the test subject effectively backing her up against the door of the bunker.  A moment later she had the poncho over the surprised woman’s head.  Glancing at the test subject confirmed to Clarke that the other woman was in bad shape. 

“You need to do exactly what I say.” Clarke said a bit more evenly.  The test subject gave her a nod though whether it was born of fear or an actually willingness to believe Clarke, she couldn’t say.  Clarke didn’t have time for it as she carefully picked the other woman up and began to haul her back up the Mountain side.

“Congratulations Clarke, not only have you managed to save someone who’s going to die in a matter of hours anyway but you’ve also managed to annoy the Mountain by stealing their test subject.”  Mari was clearly irritated.

Clarke ignored her until they made it up to her small camp safely under the tree line she set the other woman down.  The test subject drew herself back from Clarke until she was flush against a nearby tree.  She had drawn her bare legs underneath the poncho so that all Clark could see of her was her burnt face peeking out from under the hood.  Clarke sat down on the ground opposite her to catch her breath as she studied her new arrival.

“She has radiation burns on her face, arms and legs.  I give her about eight hours until she’s unconscious and another 16 until she’s dead.” Mari commented grimly from beside her.

“Can we have a moment alone Mari?” Clarke whispered under her breath.  She couldn’t get the other woman to trust her if she thought Clarke was insane. 

“Thank you.” The test subject whispered.

Clarke blinked at her, she was amazed that the test subject was able to realize so quickly that Clarke had been trying to help her. “You’re welcome.  What’s your name?”

“Keenan.”

“I’m Clarke.  You’re from Mount Weather right?”

Keenan nodded at her, still clearly afraid of her.

“What did they do to you?”

“I don’t know.” Keenan replied timidly. “I went to sleep in my own bed and then I woke up out here, in this nightmare.”

Clarke was halfway tempted to take Keenan’s hand to comfort her but she knew that she was likely to be just as radioactive to the other woman as the rain had been.  Every bit of food that she had ingested throughout her life on the ground had contained radioactive trace metals and it was thanks to her forebearers’ gene-therapy and now the symbiote that she was able to tolerate them.

Keenan coughed pitifully reminding Clarke that her charge only had a very finite amount of time to live.  Clarke wouldn’t even be able to give her any water or food as they would only irradiate her further.

“Why don’t you try to get a bit of sleep Keenan?” Clarke asked solicitously.  Keenan nodded her assent as she curled herself within her poncho.  For her part Clarke closed her own eyes in an effort to reach out to Mari.

It didn’t take long for Mari to have them both back in her country home inside Clarke’s mind.

“So, we’re in trouble now.” Mari remarked casually. “What are you going to do with her?”

Clarke gave Mari a thin smile.  “We’re going to give her some of my blood.”

Mari’s reaction was completely composed in opposition to the shock that Clarke had expected to elicit. “I seem to recall having this conversation before.”

“And I seem to recall that saving someone’s life is as good as consent to you, Mari.” Clarke snapped back.

“Touché.” Mari conceded irritably.

“Will it work?”

“Will what work Clarke?  You need to be specific about just what you’re asking for on her behalf.”

“What do you mean?”

“You’re acting on Keenan’s behalf Clarke.  You’re not going to be able to make her understand what’s going to happen to her in the time she has left.  Certainly not well enough for informed consent.”

“What are her options?”

“Generation zero; nightblood keeping her alive in the world outside the bunker, and Generation one; developing a brand-new Argus symbiote.”

Clarke paused to consider her options.  Keenan’s people had sacrificed her in the name of escaping the prison that their bunker had become.  She had no home to go back to and as a former Maunon she would be hated and shunned by everyone on the Ground.  Turning her into one of Raven Rock’s agents would be something else entirely.  From what Lexa had described of Iella the process involved giving up one’s human appearance.  Still, it wasn’t exactly like Keenan had any other options.

“So, the Generation One symbiote then.” Mari remarked cannily from beside Clarke. 

“You be gentle with her, she didn’t ask for this.”

“Of course.”

A moment later Clarke was awake once more.  She knew they didn’t have long before the Maunon would be out looking for them.  Keenan would need at least eight hours for the nightblood to make her well enough to travel and more time still in order for her to be made at least somewhat combat ready.  A small cynical part of Clarke reminded her that her decision for Keenan to receive the Argus symbiote, while being what was objectively best for her, also benefited Clarke by providing her with a guide.

Moving carefully Clarke sat down beside Keenan’s sleeping form and gently nudged her awake.  Keenan came to with a start and recoiled back from Clarke when she realized where she was.  Clarke held up her hands in a non-threatening manner.  “It’s alright.  How are you feeling?”

Keenan gave her an angry look.  “Terrible.  What’s happening to me?”

“My best guess is that your scientists gave you a blood transfusion from a donor who was born in space.  It’s not enough to protect you from the radiation.”

“Well I need to get back inside.”  Keenan stilled as she read Clarke’s expression. “They’re not going to let me back in, are they?”

“I don’t think so and I don’t think it would help.” Clarke replied doing her best to keep her expression neutral.

“Because I’ve already absorbed too much radiation.” Keenan answered completing Clarke’s sentence.  “I’m a walking ghost.”

“Not necessarily.” Keenan looked up at her, hope shining in her eyes and Clarke cursed herself for what she was about to suggest.  “I have an organism that’s living in my bloodstream right now that can repair all of the radiation damage.”

Keenan looked like she was about to say yes immediately but then she stopped and studied Clarke’s expression. “What’s the catch?”

“The organism is going to alter your body,” Clarke struggled to explain. “You also won’t be able to go home again.  Your life will become one of exploring the ground at the behest of an Artificial Intelligence.”

Keenan blinked at her as she tried to comprehend what Clarke had said. “So I can choose to die in excruciating pain or be changed into something that’s not quite human.  I’m still me right?  I’m not talking to a machine wearing a human skin right now?”

Clarke paused for a long moment.  Was she really still human or was she slowly turning into something else?  In the end she answered as honestly as she could. “I’m still the same person as I was before.”

That answer seemed to settle things for Keenan. “What do you need to do?”

“Hold out your hand.” Clarke responded as she withdrew her knife.  It would only take a few drops of blood to begin the conversion process but the more nightblood Clarke could introduce into Keenan the quicker the process would be.  Carefully Clarke made an incision into Keenan’s palm before repeating the process with her own.  While Keenan’s wound had been a simple band of red Clarke’s was far from being as benign.  As she looked down at her own black blood oozing from the cut she was shocked to find that rather than being a simple oozing liquid the blood was forming itself into questing tendrils as though already seeking a new host.  Snapping her hand shut before Keenan could see Clarke turned to the other woman.

“Ready?”  Keenan nodded and Clarke took her hand.

Clarke had been expecting some sort of sudden shock or tremor to run through Keenan’s body at the contact but Keenan simply shrugged at her. “Is it doing anything?”

Clarke knew without even needing to look that the nightblood was gleefully cascading out of her wound and into its fresh host.  While Mari may have been bound by ethics and morality the actual nightblood itself still remembered its beginnings as a weapon designed to consume its host.  Clarke could feel that a distant part of it, like an animal instinct, was happy to be fulfilling part of its original programming.  Clarke couldn’t help but wonder if the symbiote and Mari possessed a similar hierarchy of drives and instincts to a human being.

Eventually Clarke released Keenan’s hand and sat back with a long sigh the process had only been mildly draining for her.  Keenan studied the sealed black line across her palm with incredulity.  “That’s normal right?”

Clarke glanced down at her palm. “Your blood will turn black, amongst other things.  For the time being you’re going remain outwardly human looking.  How are you feeling?”

Keenan scrunched her brows together as though concentrating.  “Better?”

“Why don’t you get some sleep?  You need to give the symbiote time to build itself.”

“What about you?”

“Your friends will be along soon.”

“The security force?”  There was fear in Keenan’s voice.

“Just how exactly did you come to be the one that ended up being sent out here to die?”

Keenan shrugged her shoulders.  “I disagreed with what we were doing – bleeding the outsiders to extend our lives is wrong.  They gave me a warning to stop disagreeing with the status quo but I didn’t stop discussing the ethics of the transfusions with my students.  The parents must have complained because I was suspended from position a couple of days ago.  Then this.”

Clarke let out a silent breath of relief.  At least she hadn’t saved the life of a serial killer or something worse.  It seemed that Keenan was just a woman of conscience who had been deemed expendable.  Clarke gave a little shudder when she realized that if the radiation levels had been a bit higher when they had landed it could easily have been her pounding on the hull of the dropship as her skin blistered and burnt.

***

As morning broke over the glade, Clarke looked down on her handiwork.  Lying in the glade were four unmoving suited figures.  As Clarke had predicted the Maunon had come to look for her.  The first pair had blithely stepped out of the airlock without a care in the world.  Two high velocity rounds had cured them of their ignorance.  Salvaging their weapons and a pair of grenades from the bodies Clarke had waited.  As evening wore into night the next group had tried to sneak out of the air lock under cover of darkness.  Unfortunately for them the air lock had back lit them as they were leaving. 

After those casualties the powers that be in the Mountain seemed to have given up.  It would have been an hour from the main entrance to where Clarke was camped out and it seemed unlikely that anyone was willing to try their luck against someone who could fight back on equal terms.  The only things that worried Clarke were the Reapers and the Acid Fog. 

Keenan had remained unconscious despite the two skirmishes.  When Clarke had checked over her arms that morning she had been pleased to see only healthy, pink sink remained. 

Clarke still needed to figure out a way to get into the Mountain.  The outer airlock door still yawned open below her as the result of the grenade that she had dropped down to kill the last pair of Mountain men.  Clarke suspected that she might have damaged or even compromised the air lock itself.  With some luck she would be able to enter through the damaged lock.

As Clarke was warming up a pot of tea Keenan stirred across from her.  Clarke was impressed by the progress that the symbiote had made on the former test subject.  Pulling her poncho off Keenan studied her arms for any sign of the burns and her face broke into a wide smile at the results.  Before Clarke could say anything, Keenan had rushed over to her side and given her a big hug along with a kiss on the cheek.  Clarke coughed awkwardly.

“I see you’re feeling better.”

Keenan smiled at her as she sat down opposite her. “Thanks to you.”

Clarke felt herself flushing. “I, uh.” Clarke stumbled over her words before finally blurting out. “My girlfriend is in the Mountain.”

There was the briefest hint of regret on Keenan’s face before she smirked at Clarke. “Of course, and you need my help to find your way through the Mountain.”

Clarke nodded.

“Your girlfriend’s a lucky woman.” Keenan laughed.  “If you’re willing to save the life of one of your enemies then I’m almost afraid to see what you would do for someone you love.”

Clarke blushed a bit more at that.

“So, what do you want to know before we try to get back inside the Mountain?”

“I need to know everything.”

Keenan, it turned out, had been more astute about the goings on in the Mountain than most of her peers had given her credit for.  Most people had been content to dismiss her as a well meaning but harmless teacher but Keenan had been listening and watching the goings on within her home for a long time.  After an hour’s worth of information Clarke was beginning to feel like she had a grasp of the structure of the Mountain.  While the research labs that Keenan had been released from were a prohibited area for civilians Clarke had a reasonable idea of how to get through into the main areas of the Mountain.  Keenan had also mentioned that they would be avoided by anyone not in hazmat gear due to the fact that they were both heavily contaminated.

“You’re not going to kill everyone?” Keenan had asked hesitantly as Clarke was sliding a fresh magazine into her rifle.

“No.”  Clarke stated with finality as she clicked the magazine home. “Anyone that tries to kill us, sure, but I’m trying to avoid civilian casualties.

“Alright.” Keenan nodded her assent.  “Is there anything I can do to help?”

“Stay close behind me and don’t get shot.”

Keenan gave her a mock salute and with that they headed down the Mountain.

Clarke made her way carefully around the airlock door only to find what had ended the attacks.  Her grenade had caused a sympathetic detonation of the grenades of several of the other guards turning the airlock into a charnel house and blasting the inner door off its hinges.  Upon seeing the contents of the airlock Keenan was violently sick and Clarke could feel her own gorge rising at the havoc she had wrought. 

“Close your eyes.” Clarke murmured as she picked up Keenan and carried her through the airlock.

Fortunately, the inner room of the airlock was devoid of any more dead bodies and Keenan took a moment to swap her poncho for one of the coverall radiation suits hanging near the door.  For her part Clarke took a moment to sling her rifle over her back and take one of the bullpup assault rifles that were racked with the other equipment in the room.  Such a weapon would be a benefit in the confines of the Mountain.  Keenan awkwardly took one of the pistols but it was clear to Clarke that she had no idea how to use it.  Motioning for her to hand over the weapon Clarke chambered a round and made sure the safety was still on before handing it back.

“The safety is still on.  Only take it off if we’re in combat and only put your finger on the trigger when you’re ready to shoot.  Only shoot if you have a sure shot.  I don’t want you hitting me or anyone else by mistake.”

Keenan nodded at her as she took the weapon back. “I never thought I would be going to war against my own people.”

Clarke almost laughed but bit her tongue as they moved into the next room.  “Remind me to tell you about my own past sometime.  I’m intimately familiar with the feeling.”

The next room was clearly a laboratory of some kind and likely the place where Keenan had been prepared for her near fatal trip to the outside.  What caught Clarke’s eye was a computer terminal that was still active.  Rather than sitting down and trying to hack into the device, Clarke moved around behind the CPU to find just what she had been looking for – a wired network connection.  Making a slight incision into the insulation of the cable Clarke nicked her index finger and allowed a few drops of nightblood to drip into the opening.

“What are you doing?” Keenan asked in confusion.

“The nightblood is a mechanical organism composed of billions of nanites.  Introducing the nanites to the cable will allow them to build a signal tap in order to infiltrate the Mount Weather network.” Clarke explained.  A moment later the computer screen flashed as admin access was transferred to the terminal.

As Clarke plunked down she was shocked to find that there was already a security alert in progress and not from her recent incursion.  A little over twenty minutes ago there had been a breach in the containment wing and one of the prisoners had managed to escape.  Clarke switched to the security cameras and had to stifle a little sob of relief as she found Lexa running through the tunnels on the second level.  Somewhere along the line someone had taken Lexa’s signature clothing and swapped it for hospital scrubs but even without it Clarke still recognized her.  At some point it seemed that Lexa had picked up a plus one of her own as she had one of the Delinquents tagging along behind her.  The young woman seemed a to be quite the worse for wear as she limped along clutching her hip.

“They’ve begun harvesting for bone marrow.” Mari remarked.

“How do you figure?” Clarke asked, ignoring the strange look that Keenan gave her.

“The injured woman is clutching a wound near her pelvis.  This is typically a site for a marrow harvest.  You and Lexa will need to move quickly in order to prevent the Mountain from inoculating its soldiers and killing its prisoners in the process.”

“Can you do anything to slow them down?”

Mari shook her head. “There’s nothing short of unleashing a nanite swarm that would stop them.  The entire process is manual.”

Clarke grimaced.  “Is there anything that you can do for Lexa?”

“I have already activated containment failure alerts on the level that Lexa is on.  They are false alarms but it will cause the troopers to withdraw.  There is an elevator to the second level outside this room.  I can guide you to Lexa.”

Clarke turned her gaze to Keenan, “Come on.”

The elevator ride was quiet and it disgorged them onto the second level laboratories.  With only the blaring klaxon of the containment alarm to bother them Clarke and Keenan made good time.  Rounding the corner into one of the labs Clarke found herself face to face with Lexa.

“Clarke?” Lexa asked in shock.

Clarke didn’t even bother to answer and pulled Lexa into a tight hug.  The clung on to one another for a several moments, barely able to keep their emotions in check until Keenan cleared her throat.  “I hate to break up the moment but we need to get out of here.”

Lexa pulled away from Clarke and looked into her eyes.  “Clarke we need to do something else.  We have to destroy the acid fog.”

“What?!  I already have my symbiote infiltrating the computer network Lexa.  The fog and the missiles are history.”

“The missiles should be easy to deal with.” As though it was a confirmation of Lexa’s statement the bunker shuddered with the force of a contained blast.

“In case you were wondering that was the detonation of cruise missile against its launch door.  The entire missile launch system is now a conflagration of burning rocket fuel.” Mari added from within Clarke’s mind.

“From what I was able to figure out before I picked up Fox,” Lexa continued as she gestured to her companion. “The acid fog can be deployed manually.  We need to go down there and destroy it permanently.”

“Alright, Lexa.  Keenan, you take Fox back out the way we came in.  Head for the overlook and wait there for a couple of hours.  If you don’t hear anything from us by that time, I want you to head North.  Trust in your symbiote and it will take you to Raven Rock.  They’ll take care of you.”

Keenan nodded her assent, it looked like she wanted to say something more but instead she helped Fox back towards the elevator leaving the two of them alone.

Lexa watched them go. “By the spirits Clarke I had no idea it could be this bad in here.  They were drilling into her and had given her nothing to numb the pain.”

“Come on Lexa, if we don’t get moving they’ll do worse to us if they catch us.” Lexa gave Clarke a tight nod as Clarke handed over her revolver.  “I believe you have some familiarity with one of these.”

Lexa scoffed as she checked the cylinder before clicking it back closed and motioned for Clarke to follow her down the corridor.  “You mean the second time we met.”

“Some first date.”

“Oh, I didn’t tell you that I threaten all my potential girlfriends with mind altering plant life?”

Clarke snorted with laughter. “It seems so very long ago.”

Lexa stilled as they came up to a corner and peaked around it. “We should be coming up on a maintenance shaft.  I used it to get back up here.”

“How did you get free?”

“After we were hit by the sleeping gas I woke up in one of the cells wearing these clothes.  The guards tried interrogating me a few times but it was all very tame compared to what the Skaikru did.  They had come back to take a blood sample when I was able to get the drop on them and I slipped out and locked them in the cell.  After that I went down a maintenance shaft and ended up in the chemicals deployment section of the facility.  I didn’t have anything that I could use to destroy it so it came back up to the second level.  I found them drilling into Fox and managed to scare off the scientists doing it.  After that we were trying to find a way out.”

Clarke had just swung the door of the maintenance shaft open when a voice over the PA interrupted them.

“We need to talk.”

Clarke paused and searched the ceiling before her eyes came to rest on a camera watching them. “About what?”

“About Keenan.”

“And just who am I talking to?”

“Cage Wallace, President of Mount Weather.”

“You’re the one responsible for the deaths of my people!” Lexa snarled.

“Yes, but that’s besides the point.  What concerns us now is how you saved Keenan.”

Clarke looked up at the camera with a sneer. “Why does it matter to you?”

“Because you accomplished it with no medical equipment and at no cost to yourself.”

“Tell him nothing Clarke.” Lexa ordered.

“I would be careful about listening to your friend Clarke.”

“Why listen to you at all?” Clarke asked.

“If you help me, I can release all the grounder prisoners we have.”

“And what about the Skaikru?”

“The spacefarers?  I need them to help save my people.  I very much doubt that whatever you did for Keenan can save all my people.”

“You’re prepared to kill them all just to save your own people?”

“I will kill as many people as I need to ensure we get what belongs to us.”

“And just what is that?”

“The Ground is ours.”

Clarke grimaced, certain that she was talking to the psychopath that been behind the attack on their convoy and the near murder of Keenan. “I have only one thing to say to you Cage.”

“Oh yes?”

“You will burn.  I destroyed your missiles and I will destroy you.”

The PA clicked off at this and Clarke took a visceral pleasure at having left the President speechless.

“You do know that they’re going to start harvesting the Skaikru as quickly as possible after this.” Lexa said, her face set in a grim frown.

“I know.” Clarke responded as she climbed into the maintenance shaft.

***

The doors to chemical deployment were heavily guarded and Clarke had to hand it to Cage that while he was a psychopath, he was no fool.  After Clarke’s boast he had probably doubled the guard on every sensitive area in the bunker.  Now there were no fewer than a half dozen guards milling around the door with their weapons trained down the hall.

“Any ideas?” Lexa asked from beside her.

“Just one.” Clarke replied as she pulled out her last grenade and sent it rolling down the hallway towards the guard.

“GRENADE!” One of the guards shouted.

Taking advantage of the confusion Clarke popped out from around the corner and sprayed the hallway down with assault rifle fire.  A moment later the rifle clicked empty but by that point there was no one left alive to take advantage of the fact.

Lexa poked her head around the corner before looking over at Clarke, “What just happened?”

Clarke ejected the spent magazine and slotted home a replacement. “I didn’t pull the pin.”

Lexa sighed. “You’re incorrigible Clarke.  Taking unnecessary risks like that.”

“Prudent use of munitions Lexa.” Clarke replied as she picked up the still intact grenade.  “I learned that first hand from one of these things.”

Swinging the doors to the chemicals deployment chamber they were confronted with an elongated cylinder running a good fifty metres from one end of the room to the other.  Throughout the rest of the room were clusters of chemical storage tanks.

“Only about a hundred different ways to die that I can see in here.” Clarke whispered in a deadpan.

“There’s only one sure way destroy the acid fog and that’s to blow it up.” Lexa opined.

Clarke pinched the bridge of her nose as she surveyed the room.  “The grenades are on five second fuses which doesn’t give us anywhere near enough time to get out of here.”

“Well you’re more of an expert on explosives than I am.  What would you suggest?”

Clarke scoffed.  “I wish we had Raven here.”

“She’s far better off back in Polis.  Concentrate Clarke.  What do we have that we can use to give ourselves enough time to get out of here.”

“See about barricading the door while I take a look around.”

As Lexa set to work on the door Clarke walked amongst the tanks and piping trying to think of someway to set off the chemicals stored within.  Along the way she came across another access hatch leading into the maintenance conduits.  Her answer eventually came in the form of a can of turpentine.  Clarke shook her head in disgust at the negligent safety culture being shown in the chamber as she looked over at a large vat of nitric acid. 

“So?” Lexa asked as she came up beside Clarke.

“Well we can improvise a detonator by opening the vat of nitric acid.  Once combined with the turpentine it will cause an explosive chain reaction.”

With an excess of caution Clarke was able to construct a detonator out of the can of turpentine, an empty pan and a puddle of nitric acid.  Carefully poking a hole in the can with her knife started the pan filling but knowing the volatility of her materials Clarke was already hurrying towards the maintenance hatch.  She threw herself down the hatch and crawled until she reached the end flopping out into the bottom of a maintenance shaft where Lexa was waiting for her. 

“Let’s get out of here!” Clarke shouted and motioned for Lexa to start climbing.

Climbing with an almost manic intensity they were halfway to the next level when they heard it.  It was like a distant rumbling that gradually turned into a deafening roar.  The bunker shook and the ladder creaked ominously as flame jetted into the bottom of the shaft and began to lick its way up towards them. Clarke could feel herself screaming at Lexa to move but she could hear nothing as they climbed towards the next level.  Lexa kicked the door open and leapt through with Clarke hot on her heels.

The two of them lay there in a heap coughing as they drew in breathes of clean air.  “Remind me not to do that again!”

“So, I should remind you not to let your girlfriend be caught by a crowd of xenophobic bunker dwellers and then to subsequently mount a suicidal rescue/sabotage mission inside said bunker?” Lexa deadpanned between breathes of air.

Clarke let out a cough of laughter.  “Funny girl.”

***

The trip to the vehicle pool on the top level of the facility was surprisingly devoid of further combat.  Clarke guessed that most of the personnel were busy trying to contain the fires and chemicals that had been released from their work on the acid fog.

The two women were confronted with a pair of trucks and a pair of wheeled APCs.  Clarke was about to head towards one of the APCs when her eye was caught by a large shape hidden underneath a tarpaulin.  Walking over to the shape she peeked underneath before yanking the tarpaulin off completely.

“What is that?” Lexa asked in puzzlement.

“That, is our ticket out of here.” Clarke replied with a wide smile.  Sitting before her was a low-slung tracked infantry fighting vehicle.  Boasting a pair of cannons, missiles and enough armour to make anything less than an anti-tank missile a laughing matter the vehicle oozed menace.

Climbing up onto the vehicle’s upper hull Clarke slipped down into the driver’s seat.  While she had never driven a tank or any vehicle in her life the controls were clearly laid out.  Mentally crossing her fingers Clarke reached out and pressed the starter button.  A moment later the engine roared to life before settling into a steady rumble.  Clarke popped up out of the hatch only to find Lexa standing a respectable distance away from the vehicle.

“Is it alive?” She asked timidly.

Clarke smirked at her.  “You could say that.  Climb aboard!”

Holding out her hand Clarke motioned for Lexa to climb up onto the upper hull and directed her to the gunner’s station opposite her own.  As Lexa settled herself in the seat Clarke fished out a helmet and plunked it on her head.

“What’s that for?” Lexa asked as she craned her head up at Clarke, looking adorable confused with the heavy helmet on her head.

“With the engine running we won’t be able to communicate.  The helmet has a radio.” Clarke shouted over the engine.

Lexa nodded back at her and Clarke hurried back to the driver’s position.  Plunking herself down into the seat she slid her own helmet on and checked over the gauges.  The vehicle’s fuel tank seemed to be full and everything else seemed to be in the green.  Clarke carefully slid the gear selector into drive and gently depressed what she guessed to be the accelerator.  With a gentleness that was at odds with the vehicle’s size and power the tank rolled forward a few metres before Clarke stomped on the brake bringing it to a jerking halt.

“Do you know what you’re doing Clarke?” Lexa asked irritably over the voice link.

“I’m learning as I go.” Clarke grumbled as she grabbed the wheel and turned it towards the exit of the bay.  Letting her foot off the brake the vehicle pivoted towards Clarke’s destination.  Letting out a breath she hadn’t realized she had been holding Clarke relaxed a bit.  The vehicle seemed to be fairly tame.

With the IFV under a modicum of control Clarke was able to take them out of the vehicle bay and into an airlock and decontamination chamber.  Hopping up from the inside of the IFV Clarke was surprised to see Lexa sitting half in and half out of her hatch looking for all the world as if she belonged there.

“What?”

Clarke shook her head. “I’ve got to close the inner door before we can open the outer door.  Keep an eye out.”

Jumping down from the tank Clarke was midway to the inner door controls when a dozen guards burst out onto the floor of the vehicle bay.  The moment they saw her the guards opened fire and Clarke had to dive behind a concrete support pillar.  Cursing her stupidity at leaving her weapons back in the tank Clarke struggled to figure out some way of getting to the door controls.

She was about to try and make a dash for the door controls when a sharp electric whine punctuated the gunfire.  Glancing back at the tank Clarke was shocked to see the turret slowly rotate until it was facing the guards.  A moment later the cannons opened fire in a deafening explosion of light and sound.  Clarke was momentarily dazed by the noise of the weapons firing inside the confined space but she refocussed and ran for the door controls, smashing the close button the moment she was close enough to reach it.

The inner door groaned as it slid down from its resting spot overhead, sealing off their pursuers.  The cannons went silent, twin plumes of smoke curling from their barrels.  Clarke cycled the airlock system and then triggered the outer door before she hurried back to the tank.

Lexa looked up at her innocently.  “What?”

“Where did you learn how to operate a remote-controlled turret?”

“The same place you learned to drive I expect.”

Clarke laughed as she slid back down into the driver’s position and hit the gas.  As they rolled out into the morning light Clarke realized that although they had dealt a serious blow to the mountain, they were far from finished with them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, I did it - Clarke steals a tank and Lexa looks cute in a gunner's helmet. Someone should really do fanart of that.


	23. A Turn of the Tide

It was late evening when a group of Trikru scouts found them in a clearing a kilometre away from the Mountain.  Clarke had managed to retrieve Keenan and Fox from her old camp and together the four of them had made it to the clearing to wait for a party of scouts.  The scouts had been led by Gustus and Lexa had been surprised to find him still alive after what Clarke had described of the aftermath of the Maunon’s attack.

“Heda!” Gustus exclaimed in relief as he saw her.

Lexa gave the massive bear of a man a hug as soon as he was close enough.  “Gustus, I’m glad to see you well.”

“As am I Heda.  What happened to you?”

“The Maunon abducted me, the members of the 100 who were with us not to mention the Skaikru party that had been sent to negotiate with us.  Clarke was able to breach the Mountain and together we were able to destroy the acid fog and their missiles.”

“So they are defenseless?”  Yana, one of the Outriders who had joined them back in Norfolk, asked from behind Gustus.

“Not entirely.” Clarke answered as she joined the discussion. “The outer doors are still mostly intact with the possible exception of the rear entrance door.  I estimate that we killed between 20-30 members of the security forces during our attack.”

Yana let out a low whistle. “How many do you think they have left?”

Clarke motioned for Keenan to join them. “Keenan used to be one of the Maunon.”

Gustus surged forward causing Keenan to recoil.  Lexa placed a palm on Gustus’ chest. “Em pleni Gostos!  Keenan is no longer one of them.  She opposed their actions.”

“Then how does she walk about freely without being burned?” Gustus growled.

“Clarke gave me her blood.” Keenan replied. “It’s allowed me to survive outside of the Mountain.”

“Keenan opposed the actions of the Maunon even before they used her as a test subject and almost killed her.” Clarke added. “She has no loyalty to their leadership.”

“I do not trust her Heda.  First the Tseekru, now a Maunon, what next?”

“Gostos, the world is changing.  We no longer live in the comforting world of black and white that was our childhood.  We need to be open to assistance from people we would have dismissed off hand as enemies.”

“I still do not like it.” Gustus sighed.

Keenan cautiously stepped forward. “The population of the Mountain was about 380 people.  Out of that all male inhabitants over the age of 18 are trained in combat but only about 100 of them actually serve at any given time.”

“And what of the women?” Yana asked curiously.

“They are typically assigned to other functions ranging from scientific work to maintenance.  They would be no threat to your warriors.”

Gustus scoffed. “They are made weak by their foolish values and dependence on technology.”

“Hold on a second, what are you going to do to them?”  Keenan asked worriedly.

“They should die.  All of them!  Jus drein, jus draun.” Gustus replied succinctly.

“I gave Keenan my word that we wouldn’t kill everyone.” Clarke interjected.

Everyone’s gaze fell on Lexa for a final verdict. “We cannot let the Maunon’s crimes go unpunished but by the same token we are not going to commit genocide.  Everyone who receives the bone marrow treatment will be executed unless they can prove it was done against their will.  The scientists and leaders responsible for this bone marrow treatment will be executed as well.  The guard, due to their participation in the harvesting of our people will receive punishments that fit their crimes.  All those who received blood from our people will receive punishments that reflect the scale of their crimes.  The children will be spared and every effort shall be made to ensure that every child is left with at least one parent.”

Keenan stammered almost incoherently before she could make her mouth cooperate. “You’re talking about executing at least a third of the population.”

“Far too few.” Gustus grumbled.  “They are monsters who have plagued us for as long as we can remember.  They are not human beings.”

Clarke put a hand on Keenan’s arm. “I don’t like the idea of mass executions any more than you do but your people have been a menace.  They have consumed countless lives to prolong their own and ruined countless more.  How many mothers, fathers, sons and daughters have been lost to your people?”

“We had to survive.” Keenan argued desperately.

“Then you should have asked for the blood.  Traded for it.  Welcomed the grounders into your family so that you could have overcome your weak genetics.” Clarke snapped back. “Your people have had at least a half century of opportunities to make peace.  Instead they have become progressively more inhuman.”

Keenan let out a shaky sigh.  “What happens to the people like me or those that weren’t involved?”

“Anyone who was not involved in the harvesting of my people and accepted blood only to survive will be pardoned.  The survivors will receive some form of therapy to enable them to survive on the surface.  After that they will be placed in the hands of the Tseekru.”

“Oh so they become our problem?” Yana laughed.

“You have a problem with that Outrider?” Lexa responded fixing her with a chilling gaze.

“No ma’am.” Yana answered. “I was only joking.  We would be more than happy to take the refugees to Norfolk.”

Keenan looked like she was about to say something but Lexa held up her hand to still her response. “The Tseekru are a group of people who you have not harmed.  They still retain some technology so living amongst them will be both safe and comfortable for the survivors.  Satisfied?”

Keenan gave her a nod and Lexa turned back to Yana and Gustus. “Gustus I want you to go back to the rest of the army.  They are to decamp immediately and move with speed to our position.  We will advance to the outskirts of the mountain and rest there before attacking.  Yana, gather your Outriders and prepare the explosives.  The moment the army clears a path to the entrance of the Mountain I want your people up there to blow the door.  Questions?”

Gustus and Yana shook their heads and gathered the scouts as they returned the way that they had come leaving the four women alone once more.  Clarke sighed as they departed and Keenan made her way back to the pot of water they had setup over the fire.

Lexa studied Clarke’s expression for a moment.  “Clarke, what’s wrong?”

Clarke looked over at her. “I’m not looking forward to what comes next Lexa.”

“You mean the battle.”

“And what comes after the battle.”

“It has to be done.”

“Does it Lexa?” Clarke asked hopelessly. “Do we really need to execute them?”

“The ones who perpetrated this are monsters.  If we let them go it would be endorsing their behaviour.  These people need to be made into an object lesson so that no one ever considers doing something so horrific again.”

“But will that really accomplish anything Lexa?”

“Perhaps not but for our people to be safe we must burn out this evil.”

Clarke gave her a small smile. “Ever quick with a motivating word.”

Lexa took Clarke’s hand.  “It will be a dirty desperate business Clarke but when we are through with this, we will have peace.”

Clarke was about to respond when she was interrupted by Keenan’s shout of surprise.  Turning their gaze towards the opposite edge of the thicket they saw a trio of Mountain Men approaching.  None of them were wearing suits and the implications of that turned Lexa’s stomach.

“Get Fox inside the tank!” Clarke yelled as her grip tightened around Lexa’s hand.  The two of them broke into a run towards the tank but as Lexa glanced at the approaching Maunon she realized that they had stopped where they were.

“Clarke wait!” Lexa replied pulling on Clarke’s hand.  “They’re standing still and they’re not pointing their weapons at us.”

Clarke glanced from Lexa towards the Maunon.  “What are they doing?”

“We wish to parlay with you.” One of the Maunon called.

Lexa tightened her grip on Clarke’s hand reflexively. “It could be a trick to recapture us.”

“There’s only one way to find out.” Clarke hissed back before turning her gaze to the Maunon. “Drop your weapons there and advance towards us.”

As the Maunon did as they were commanded Clarke and Lexa made their way back to the fire.  At a gesture from Clarke the Maunon advanced towards the fire.

“So, you want to discuss the terms of your surrender then.” Lexa needled being deliberately provocative just to see how the Maunon would react. 

“We are here to discuss the terms of a cease fire.” The lead Maunon replied evenly.

“What are you offering?” Lexa asked skeptically.

“We still have seventy living outsider prisoners whose lives are redundant to us at this point.  You call off your attack and we’ll release the prisoners to you.”

Lexa laughed in the negotiator’s face earning her a stunned look from both him and from Clarke and Keenan.  “I’m sorry.  You’re trying to buy peace with seventy lives?”

“Yes?” The negotiator said in confusion. “Consider that we will kill all of them as well as killing a significant number of your warriors in the attack.”

“Let me tell you what I know.  You have no acid fog and no missiles.  You have between fifty to a hundred men with guns and some other explosives.  You are facing an army of two thousand warriors and I have the means to rupture your bunker doors easily.  Once my warriors enter the Mountain it will be a bloodbath.  Your people will cease to exist.”

“Even you aren’t that bloodthirsty.” The negotiator responded all though it looked as though he doubted his own words.

“What’s your name?”

“Carl Emerson.”

“Do you have any children Carl?” Lexa asked casually.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Emerson snarled.

“I’m asking if you want them to grow up or you want me to bury them alongside you?”

“I refuse to believe that you would massacre innocent children.”

“I’m not going to massacre anyone Carl.  The air will do that for me.  If we breach your bunker then every single door will be blown open in an attempt to clear out all resistance.  Anyone without a suit or the bone marrow treatment will die.  Can you give all the children the bone marrow treatment before we arrive?”

Emerson’s glare was all the response Lexa needed. “I didn’t think so.  It seems to me that you’ve got two choices.  Return to the bunker and prepare to die or accept my terms of surrender.”

“And just what are your terms.”

“Amnesty and treatment for all the children.  All children retain at least one parent.  All personnel that participated in the harvesting of blood and bone marrow will be executed.  Anyone that received the bone marrow or blood treatments will be tried for their crimes.  All remaining survivors will be treated and relocated from Mountain to a safe location to live out the rest of your days in peace.”

Emerson closed his eyes.  It was clear he knew that Lexa had handed him a death sentence.  “President Wallace suspected that you might propose terms like those.”

“And?”

“And he had one demand.  He has to be allowed to go free and granted amnesty.”

Lexa’s stomach roiled at this, she had no desire to give the man responsible for all the pain and suffering his freedom.  Memories of smiling and shaking Nia’s hand at the conclusion of the Kongeda negotiations came flooding back.

“Lexa?” Clarke asked from beside her.  “Are you alright?”

“Consider the terms accepted.  You will halt all bone marrow harvesting immediately.  You will signal your abeyance to the terms of this agreement by having all the prisoners given medical attention and placed outside of the bunker.  All weapons will be placed outside of the bunker and all of your soldiers will be outside waiting for us.  Clear?”

Emmerson nodded his head.  “We will await your arrival.”

“Then you may go.”

As the Maunon turned and left Lexa let out the breath she hadn’t realized that she had been holding. 

“So this is a good thing right?” Keenan asked from behind them.

“I suppose so.”  Clarke replied as she watched the Maunon walking back the way they had come.

“Assuming they actually surrender.” Lexa added grimly.

“Oh, I suspect they will.  Cage is very fond of his own skin.” Keenan confirmed.

“It’s all over but for the crying.” Clarke remarked.

***

Just as Keenan had prophesied the Mountain Men and their prisoners were assembled outside the door to the bunker when the army arrived.  Lexa had given her warriors firm instructions that none of the Maunon were to be harmed unless she expressly ordered it but she was still tense despite her commands.  Her soldiers were far from being known for discipline and their hatred of the Maunon ran deep.  Lexa knew that she would need to start giving them prisoners to be executed in an effort to sate their bloodlust before they went on an out of control rampage through the Mountain.  The thought of sacrificing people on the altar of vengeance sickened her despite the fact that most of the victims would more than deserve their fate.

Cage was standing outside the bunker almost preening in the sunlight.  It was clear that despite everything he thought that he had won, simply because he had survived.  Lexa would be damned if she let him get away with it.

“Lexa and Clarke.  The two women who brought down Mount Weather.” Cage remarked as they approached him.

“Cage Wallace, the fool who destroyed the Mountain.” Clarke snapped back.

“I don’t know about that my dear.  I’m looking forward to my new life on the surface.”

“You seem awfully confident for someone with no more cards left to play.” Clarke laughed.

“I still have one card left.  Right now, the self destruct is counting down.”

“The what?!” Lexa snarled.

“Easy Lexa.  It’s set to 30 minutes.  Enough time for us to conclude our business and for me to leave.  I’ll radio you the code when I’m a safe distance away.”

“No, Cage.  I’m not going to take the chance that you’re going to double cross me.” Lexa replied her voice icy.

“Then we have an impasse.”

“Not really.” Clarke said, breaking the silence with a crafty smile.  “We’ll let you out through the Reaper tunnels.  You can use the Reapers to provide you some security until you’re clear of our forces.  Before you go you’ll radio the code.  We’ll be sure the code is legitimate and you’ll be on your way.”

Cage looked around nervously clearly noting the hate filled looks that everyone including his own guards were shooting his way.  “Fine.”

“Lexa?”

Lexa knew that by the expression on Clarke’s face that she had something planned for Cage, so she nodded her head reluctantly.  “Agreed.”  Lexa motioned to Gustus. “Assemble a team of four of my most reliable guards.  We will be going into the bunker.  Cage will be coming with us.”

Lexa turned away from her group to Anya and Indra.  “Anya, I’m depending on you to keep everyone in check here.  Anyone that harms a Maunon without my express permission is to be executed immediately.”

“It will be difficult to keep them restrained.  They were promised revenge.”  Anya replied.  Indra’s expression was one of almost mutinous discontent.

“And they will have their revenge but we will do it properly.” Lexa shot back with a glare at Indra.  “We will execute the scientists first since their guilt is beyond question.  Clear?”

At the nods from her two general’s Lexa waved Keenan over. “You told us there were others like you who disagreed with what was being done to the grounders.  You will be responsible for singling them out.  They will assist us in determining the guilt and appropriate punishments for the residents.”

“Lexa …” Keenan began.

“Keenan, I know that you feel like you’re betraying your people by cooperating, but without your cooperation there will be bloody indiscriminate reprisals and innocent people will die.  This is the only way.”

Keenan swallowed and nodded at her.  “Yes Lexa.”

The trip into the bunker was a hushed affair.  Lexa and the rest of the group donned the protective overalls that formed the outer layer of the Maunon’s radiation suits.  Wearing the garments would ensure that they would not contaminate the Mountain or its residents while they were meting out justice.

The first stop had been the science labs.  The scientists were milling about in a nervous knot in one corner whispering to on another.  While the scientists themselves were spotlessly clean there were dozens of half-dead Skaikru prisoners confined in beds that spoke to the manic pace with which the scientists had been extracting the bone marrow. 

Clarke had hurried over to one of the beds and Lexa realized with horror that her mother lay in it.  On the opposite side Kane was clutching Abbi’s hand.  His head popped up in surprise at Clarke’s arrival.  “Clarke?”

“Kane, what happened?”

Kane hung his head.  “After all of the alarms the scientists seemed to panic and started extracting as much bone marrow as quickly as they could.  They started on Abbi this morning.  Then they stopped everything and started patching us up after that.  What happened?”

Clarke was clearly incapable of explaining as held on to her mother’s hand.  Lexa moved in behind her and placed a gentle hand on her shoulder before answering Kane. “The residents of Mount Weather have surrendered to us Chancellor.”

“So that makes us your prisoners?” Kane asked grimly.

“No Chancellor.  Your people are free to come and go as they please.”

“And what about justice for what’s happened to my people?”

“There will be justice, of that you have my word.”  Lexa let go of Clarke and turned back towards Cage.  The man quailed under the force of her glare. “Who was responsible for this?”

“Her.” Cage replied as he gestured towards one of the scientists.

Lexa nodded to her guards and two of them advanced on the woman.  “You scum, you’re going to sacrifice everyone so that they don’t kill you!” The scientist snarled.

“You’re making a sacrifice for the greater good, Lorelei.” Cage replied with the hint of a smile.

“Fuck you Cage!” The woman screamed as she was dragged by the former president and out of the room.  The rest of the scientists bunched up in the corner doing their best to ignore what had just happened.

Lexa turned back to Clarke and Kane.  “Will she be alright?”

“With enough rest I think she’ll be alright.” Clarke whispered.

“Do you want to stay here Clarke?” Lexa asked softly.

Clarke rose decisively.  “No Lexa.  We need to stop the self destruct.”

Lexa motioned for her guards to follow her and with a nod to Kane they left the room.  Lexa motioned for one of the guards to remain by the door before turning to other one. “We will need more guards.  Have Gustus gather a group of twenty and have them suit up.  Keenan, you go back with Artigas.  I need you to guide Gustus’ men back here.  After you station more guards here take Gustus and the rest down to the civilian areas.  Ensure that there is no panic and separate the dissidents so that we can talk to them.”

Keenan nodded her assent and she and Artigas headed back towards the surface leaving her alone with Clarke and Cage.  “Now Mr. President lets go and deactivate the self destruct.”

Cage nodded at her and the three of them headed for the elevator.

***

The president’s office was an opulent sanctum of Old World art and luxury.  Heading over to the desk Cage was about to reach for a satchel before Clarke not so subtly nudged him away from it and picked it up herself to check it for weapons.

“Deactivate the self-destruct, Cage.” Lexa commanded coldly.

“That wasn’t the deal Lexa.” Cage answered calmly.

“You have my word that I will let you go free through the Reaper tunnels.  That’s the best offer you’re going to get Cage.”

Cage studied her closely before finally relenting and inputting his code into the console built into his desk.  There was a tense moment as the console chimed and the self destruct deactivated but it passed as Clarke handed Cage his satchel.

“I see you have the red for taking care of the Reapers.” Clarke remarked casually.

Cage looked at her suspiciously.  “How do you know about project Cerberus?”

“Let me answer the first question you ever asked me Cage.  I saved Keenan by using a colony of nanites living inside my body.  Those same nanites gained access to all of your computer systems including your files on Project Cerberus.”

“Enough talk Cage.  Let’s go.” Lexa interrupted and gave Cage a shove towards the door. 

After a silent trip back up to the second level the three of them were standing next to the airlock door leading into Reaper tunnels in short order.  Clarke swung the door open and listened attentively.  From somewhere in the darkness there came a soft growl.

“You know I didn’t think you two would actually let me go but I’m pleased to see your word means something to you.” Cage remarked confidently.  “Perhaps we’ll meet again.”

“I’m not so sure about that Cage.” Clarke answered softly.

Lexa glanced over at her and then down at her hand.  Sitting in one palm was a cylindrical device.

“What do you mean Clarke?”  Cage asked suspiciously.

“Lexa may have agreed to spare your life and I may be honour bound to accede to Lexa’s wishes but I don’t think the Reapers made that deal.  I think you’re going to find it a bit difficult to talk to them without this.” Clarke held the cylindrical device up for Cage to see.  His mouth dropped open and he made to grab for the device but he was too late.  Clarke had already planted a foot directly in his chest sending him stumbling backwards out through the open door.  Before Cage could react, she had the door closed.

There was a frantic pounding on the door followed by a loud, angry growl.  A moment later there was a long scream.

Lexa looked from Clarke to the door and back again.  “What did you do?”

“Cage was controlling the Reapers with a drug called the Red and an ultrasonic emitter.  I palmed the ultrasonic emitter from his bag.  Without it the Reapers would be more than capable of paying him back for what he did to them.”

Lexa took Clarke’s hand.  “Thank you Clarke.”

“I know how much you dislike letting the guilty go free.”

***

By late evening most of the executions had concluded.  Lexa found Clarke sitting alone near the top of the mountain looking out at the sunset.  Lexa paused as she took in the sight of the dying sun catching Clarke’s golden hair.  Clarke turned to look at her as though she had been expecting her.

“It’s over.”  The words were not a question.

Lexa nodded as she went to sit beside her.  “The Maunon have paid for their crimes.”

“Good.”

 “And your mother?”

“Will recover in time.” Clarke replied shortly.

The two of them lapsed into silence as the looked out over the forest and the dozens of fires that were beginning to pop up below them as her soldiers bivouacked in the woods for the night.  Lexa couldn’t help but marvel at the fact that so many of her soldiers were still alive after what she had been expecting to be a final bloody battle against the Maunon.

“So what happens now?” Clarke asked almost rhetorically given that she had at least as good an idea as Lexa.

“I shall leave a group of soldiers here to protect the Mountain.  Their arms shall be taken to Polis where they will be kept under lock and key.  We still need a way to inoculate the surviving Maunon against the radiation before they can be taken to Norfolk.”

“While you take the army back to Polis I’ll return with Keenan to Raven Rock so that they can take care of her.”

“Take care of her.” Lexa rolled the words around in her mouth in a vain attempt to make them more palatable.  It didn’t work. “She’s going to become like Iella.”

“That’s the bargain.” Clarke replied grimly.

Lexa let out a long sigh.  “I miss the old days when the worst thing I had to worry about was the Azgeda and the Maunon.  Now we’re stuck grappling with the morality of bargains struck with AIs to turn people into eldritch beings from our own nightmares.”

“When you put it like that Lexa it sounds pretty sinister.” Clarke replied teasingly.  “I didn’t know you were given to Lovecraftian musings.”

“Lovecraft?”

“An old-world author who wrote about monsters and creatures that defied human understanding.”  Clarke explained.

“Somehow accurate don’t you think?”

“I suppose.” Clarke replied distantly as she looked out at the horizon.

Lexa studied her carefully, she could sense that the moment was pregnant with implications. “You’re thinking about the North aren’t you?”

Clarke nodded, almost guiltily. “After the ambush while I was being repaired Ama’s patron manifested herself in my mind.”

Lexa nodded but remained silent – encouraging Clarke to continue.

“She calls herself Mari and without her I wouldn’t have been able to save Keenan or make it inside the bunker.” The ‘and save you’ went unsaid but they were both thinking it.  That was the second time that the AI had saved Lexa’s life and the scales now firmly rested in Mari’s favour.  Still on an emotional level Lexa had no desire to be parted from Clarke.

“And she wants you to travel North?” Lexa whispered.

“Yes.”

Lexa glanced over at Clarke. “What do you want Clarke?”

Clarke let out a long shaky breath of air before moving closer to Lexa and resting her head on Lexa’s shoulder.  “I want to stay here with you.  I want that more than anything.”

It should have been enough.  Lexa knew that she should have just accepted the statement at face value.  She knew that she should have cherished every moment of ignorance and self-deception that she was given but she still asked the question. “But?”

“But I need to go North and I think you know why I need to go North.”

“If you go then I’m going with you.”

Clarke straightened up and looked at Lexa, her expression frustrated. “Lexa, you’re needed here.  As much as I want you to come with me, I can’t be that selfish and neither can you.”

“Selfish?!” Lexa snapped. “Selfish!  We both know what I’ve sacrificed for the Kongeda and its people.  How much more do I need to sacrifice before I’m entitled to a bit of happiness?”

“If it was up to me Lexa …” Clarke trailed off.

“But it’s not.” Lexa subsided with a sigh. “At least promise me that you’re not going to just run off to the North without coming back to Polis.”

Clarke smiled at her softly. “That’s a promise that I can make.”


	24. Epilogue - Rainflower

True to her word Clarke had returned after taking Keenan to Raven Rock.  She had returned bearing a case of nightblood serum for the remaining residents of Mount Weather.  For Lexa the week that Clarke had been away had dragged on as she was weighed down by a raft of doubts and petty concerns.  The members of the Kongeda had been furious at the limited retribution they had been able to exact on the Maunon.  Worse, murmurs had begun to circulate around Polis questioning Lexa’s ability to lead the Kongeda and Lexa had a good idea of where the dissent was originating from.  Nia and her agents would do everything that could to undermine Lexa’s leadership.  A lack of retribution was a short-term concern and Lexa knew that it would soon be forgotten but a nearly bloodless victory that preserved so many warriors’ lives would not be forgotten.  There was still the matter of the Skaikru but after what had happened at the Mountain Lexa suspected that the truce would hold.  She would need to negotiate a more lasting treaty with Kane but that could wait until things had a chance to settle down.

When Clarke finally returned Lexa couldn’t stop herself from enfolding the other woman in a tight embrace the moment she saw her, heedless of who had been watching.  After having Clarke recount just what had happened at Raven Rock, nothing remarkable as it turned out ,and giving Clarke the welcome home that she deserved the two of them settled into a comfortably normal routine.  No words had been given to the subject of when Clarke would eventually need to travel North although they both knew that it was coming eventually. 

Clarke had settled into the role of Lexa’s advisor and bodyguard despite such a position not having existed prior to Clarke’s arrival.  There had been a few rumblings about Clarke’s divided loyalties but soon enough the stories of how she had saved Lexa’s life in the Mountain began to circulate and those concerns were swiftly banished.  Most of the ambassadors and clan leaders had come to treat Clarke as an extension of Lexa’s person and Lexa was grateful at being able to share the burden of leadership with someone else.  Privately, Lexa had to marvel at how easily Clarke slipped into her role, it was almost as though she was born to lead.

It should have come as no surprise to either of them that there would be threats on their lives but when the attack did come it still managed to take both of them off guard.  They had been wandering through the market with a quartet of Lexa’s bodyguards when a single man had sprung out of a group of travellers and attacked one of her guards.  The man was completely non-descript, clearly not a warrior or an assassin, and Lexa would have paid him little heed until he downed the first of her guards in under a moment.  We a grace and dexterity that seemed at odds with his average build and musculature he moved from one to another of her guards with the ease of a trained killer.  Clarke shoved Lexa behind her as she drew her own sword and advanced on the assassin. 

Lexa sparred exclusively with Clarke on a daily basis,- not out of a romantic attachment, though that was certainly a benefit, but because Clarke was the only one who could give her a challenge.  Ever since they had returned from Raven Rock Lexa had found that their reflexes and reaction times had been dramatically enhanced. It had reached the point that Lexa was able to outfight a group of her own bodyguards with ease, something that she would never have been able to do before Raven Rock.  While Lexa had been impressed and a little worried about the assassin’s ability to incapacitate her bodyguards she was justifiably confident that Clarke would have little trouble with him.  Nevertheless she drew her own sword and advanced cautiously behind Clarke.

To her horror she watched as the assassin was able to deftly hold his own in the face of Clarke’s initial attack and then subsequently managed to put Clarke on the defensive.  Lexa realized that this was no ordinary assassin that they were facing but something else entirely.  Still, Lexa was disciplined enough to quash her doubts and focus on fighting.  In complete silence she moved to Clarke’s right and entered the fray.

There is a common misconception that in a two versus one fight with swords that the pair have the advantage over the solitary combatant and in some very select cases this is true.  Backstabbing an opponent while they are distracted is one such case.  Attacking a prepared and capable swordsman from the front is another proposition entirely as the duo has to carefully manage their attacks so they do not confound each other’s movements or worse still end up being struck by their partner’s blade.  While Lexa knew Clarke well enough to anticipate some of her moves there was a cautiousness on both their parts that prevented them from really benefitting from their advantage in numbers.  Eventually the two of them settled into a tag team in which one would launch most of the attacks while the other would content themselves with the occasional feint or thrust under their enemy’s guard.  As a strategy it worked quite well and before long, they had opened several cuts on the assassin’s body although it did nothing to slow him down.

With the fight dragging on Lexa decided to do something unorthodox.  Waiting until Clarke had the assassin’s complete attention Lexa made to thrust under the assassin’s guard, a move she had done several times during the fight and one the assassin was familiar with.  As the assassin parried, Lexa put her full weight against the blade and while the assassin was distracted Lexa used her free hand to drive her dagger into the assassin’s chest.  The assassin was momentarily stunned but where another human being would have been well on their way to death the assassin seemed likely to rally at least until Clarke’s blade opened his throat.

The two of them were left panting for breath as they surveyed the carnage.  Glancing from the dead man to Clarke Lexa had the dreadful premonition that the moment that she had been dreading had just arrived.  Lexa had been about to say something to Clarke when another group of her armed warriors came boiling into the marketplace with them.  She heard Clarke say something about wanting to examine the body as her guards hurried her away from the scene of the attack.  It would be the last time that she would see Clarke.

As soon as she was back in the tower, she had set to irritably pacing back and forth waiting for Clarke to report back to her.  As the sun made its transit across the sky so too did Lexa emotions transit from impatience to irritation to worry.  She had sent out several guards to find Clarke and had even resorted to having Anya scour the city for her missing lover.  It wasn’t until that she had returned to her apartments that she found a note sitting on her pillow.  With a growing sense of dread, she opened the note and read the first line.

_Dear Lexa_

_By the time you read this I will be gone …_

An animal sound of grief tore through Lexa’s throat as she dropped the letter.  Clarke had finally left to follow the task that Ama had set her, leaving Lexa alone.  Even now she was sailing into unimaginable danger without Lexa.  Despite this it was the vicious rend in Lexa’s heart that occupied all of her attention as she sank to her knees and read the remainder of the letter.

_I’m sorry I wasn’t brave enough to do this in person but I knew that if I saw you my resolve would fail me.  Even now it’s all I can do to continue forward with this._

_I want you to know that what I’m doing isn’t because the AIs are somehow compelling me to do it.  I’m doing this because it’s the right thing to do and it’s the only way that I can be sure that you’ll be safe.  The assassin was, as we feared, enhanced by Mari’s rival.  He had a chip in him that I can only guess was responsible for his combat performance and complete disregard for his own self-preservation._

_What can we do against such foes Lexa?  They are an enemy that we cannot hope to beat through simple force of arms alone.  The only path that I know of is to travel North and seek out Mari’s core.  I know that it will be dangerous and that I could die.  I promise you that I will do my very best to avoid that happening._

_I never wanted this but we are the only ones who can possibly meet this new threat.  I never wanted to hurt you.  I love you and I will always love you no matter where I am._

_I will see you again._

_Clarke_

Lexa let out an agonized sob as she hurled the now balled up letter across the room.  Despite her best efforts, Clarke had managed to wound her deeply.  Despite knowing that this moment was coming, despite having mentally prepared for it, Lexa was still left shattered.  Intellectually she knew that it wasn’t a betrayal but she was a far cry from being able to think about things rationally.

***

“She’s gone.” Anya finally remarked without any hint of emotion when she finally braved Lexa’s apartments an hour later.

“Is that supposed to be news Onya?” Lexa snapped with an uncharacteristic amount of ire.

Anya seemed taken aback by Lexa’s sharp reply before composing her expression. “We searched the entirety of Polis.  It was not until we spoke with the harbourmaster and he told us of a Tseekru merchant ship that made an unscheduled departure that we suspected that Clarke may have left the city.  What is this all about?”

Lexa rose imperiously to her feet _._ “Clarke has chosen to leave to pursue a mission that does not involve me.”

Anya looked at her skeptically.  “What could possibly possess her to leave you?”

Lexa was torn between wanting to yell at Anya to get out and telling her everything.  Despite the gaping wound in her heart her long years of training won out, there were things that Anya was not ready to know.  “The Azgeda have lied to us.  There are powers dwelling in the Northern lands that have only just begun to stir.  Clarke has gone to confront them.  A time may come when I have to do the same.”

Anya looked at her with an uncomprehending frown confirming Lexa’s suspicion that a fanciful tale of eldritch entities that were playing a game of chess using nations as the pieces would have broken poor Anya’s brain.

“Consider yourself lucky to be spared the burden of this knowledge Anya.  If you will excuse me, I would like to retire.”

Anya looked like she wanted to say something further but nodded her assent, still she paused at the door.  “If you need anything Lexa …”

“I know Anya and I am grateful.” Lexa replied as she turned away from her former teacher.

Looking out over Polis, her city, at the all the slumbering houses filled with her people Lexa was reminded of just what her duty entailed.  The people below her looked to her for safety, for reassurance, and for simplicity.  It was her duty to carry the knowledge of what lurked in the darkness beyond the light and order of her little scrap of civilization.  How bitter a word – duty.

Lexa looked beyond the walls, beyond the lights, into the darkness of the sea beyond – Clarke’s adopted element.  She wondered if somewhere in that black abyss Clarke was thinking of her.

“Come home to me Clarke, come home safe.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gah! It's finally complete! I hope there are at least a few damp eyes after the epilogue.   
> The chapter name was a bit of whimsy on my part after reading Memory of Empire and getting into the significance of plants. The meaning of Rainflower in this context is 'I'll never forget you'.  
> This has been a journey nearly four years in the making. I first published the beginnings of this back on FF in March of 2016 and now it's finally complete. The most difficult chapters in this were Chapter 21 and Chapter 7, for some reason both of them proved exceptionally hard to write. My MVP character was the Homrippa and I'd credit him/her with revitalizing the story and getting it back on track.  
> As most of you are aware I have an idea where I'm going for the next book - the frozen wastes of Canada! Brrrrrr! The narrative style is going to be changing slightly with the entire first half of the book being told from Lexa's perspective and the back half from Clarke's. They will reconnect fairly quickly after a couple of chapters. There will be no shortage of new characters in the next book but some old characters are going to be making reappearances. There will also be some slightly Ranya in the later parts of the book.   
> I'll probably aim to start releasing chapters at the end of March to commemorate the beginning of this book. The next book will be posted exclusively on A03 thanks to FF.net's clunky interface.  
> Finally I want to extend a profound thank you to everyone who has reviewed the story. While it might not look it, your reviews have actually encouraged me to finish this work. Keep on reviewing if you want to see more!


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